


Chasms of Sixteen

by Spirit_Eclipse_Dragon_Wolf



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, Angst, Creatures, Demons, Experimentation, Fairies, Family, Fantasy, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Multi, Recovery, Redemption, Romance, Shifters, Time Travel, Tragedy, Transformation, vengence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-01-07 14:21:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 51
Words: 124,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18412424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spirit_Eclipse_Dragon_Wolf/pseuds/Spirit_Eclipse_Dragon_Wolf
Summary: Given the chance to go back to rectify mistakes has Naruto being the one up for the task at hand. The vibrations left behind will spur on a chain of events no one can ever hope to expect. The doors that open up will lead to new routes on the branching road of life.





	1. Genesis

**_Hey y'all! So, I adopted this a long while back from the previous writer of this and their other works. I took it down for a while due to some harassment and other stuff going on certain sites towards me and my works. So, now with a better mindset hopefully, I can get back to revising this to make it a better reading experience for y'all._ **

**_I hope you all enjoy. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Adopted From: Pen-Name-Kitsune-chan**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**Chasms of Sixteen**

**Chapter 1: Genesis**

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto rushes towards his goal. Finally! Soon he and his team will reach Itachi. Sasuke's sure to be not far behind. Growing anxious to once again lay eyes on the raven haired shinobi has him wondering if he even remembers him at this point. He has brought to light he has cut all ties.

"Stop!" Kakashi calls out, receiving a report from Pakun. "We're nearby. Hinata, see if you can detect anything with your Byakugan."

"Hai," replies the Hyuga heiress, activating her bloodline to look around. "There! Ten miles to the northeast. There only seems to be two of them."

"Alright. We need a plan," says Yamato.

Naruto fidgets out of boredom. Yes, he knows that the use of a plan when trying to capture a powerful opponent such as Itachi, but it's starting to take so damn long. Tracing the patterns of the bark on a tree, he zones out, so he consequentially misses most of the plan that Yamato explains to everyone else.

"Everyone got that?" Asks Kakashi to their group.

"Huh?" Is Naruto's intelligible reply, having been broken out of his mind wanderings, mentally cursing at his inattentiveness at times.

"Moron. Pay better attention next time," says Kiba out of annoyance.

"Shut the fuck up, dog breath!" Snaps out Naruto angrily.

"Calm down you two," chides Kakashi, seeing to know this role all too well of being the peacekeeper. "Naruto, the decision is that we're going to split into two groups in order to surround Itachi and Kisame. You're pairing up with Hinata. She can explain your part in the plan. Kiba's right though…. You need to pay better attention."

 _Who asked him_? Naruto mentally grumbles.

 _They're right, you know. Do you know how annoying it is being sealed into someone with extreme ADHD?_ Kurama asks her host, knowing that he can't tell if she's being sarcastic or not.

 _What's ADHD_? Asks Naruto, not sure if he needs to be feeling offended at all by that comment.

 _Oh, yeah…. I forgot that you humans have almost no knowledge of genetics and the various genetic disorders,_ sighs Kurama, guessing her words are just hot air to him right now, knowing he'll require her help later.

 _What do you mean by that_?

 _Nothing. Anyway, what ADHD is doesn't matter. What does matter is that you're currently staring off into space and everyone's looking at you weird,_ points out the fox, chuckling lightly at his predicament.

 _Bitch,_ mutters Naruto before coming out of his reverie to see everyone looking at him funnily.

Sakura's waving her hand in front of his face, "Huh?"

"What just happened? You blanked all of the sudden,"

"Just thinking," answers Naruto casually, trying to play it off as if nothing has gone by that seems weird.

"That's new," remarks Kiba, earning an animalistic growl from Naruto, which causes everyone except for Sai to blink.

"We need to get going now," the oh-so-talkative Shino comments offhandedly.

The others nod in agreement. Everyone splits up into their groups of two. Shino and Kiba head out in one direction, Sakura and Kakashi go out into another. Yamato and Sai cover a third direction of attack, while Naruto and Hinata creep around to the unoccupied direction of offence. Itachi tenses as he senses eight distinct chakra signatures approaching. Kisame can also feel it too, licking his lips for the tasty chakra to gain shortly for Samahada.

"Do you think it's Sasuke's group?" the ex-mist-nin asks his partner.

"No, I sense Kurama's jinchurriki amongst them. My little brother is unlikely to suddenly decide to team up with him of all people," replies Itachi calmly. " It's more likely that it's a team from Konoha come to get us before we can capture Naruto."

"Well, well, won't they be in for a surprise when they realize that Deidara and Tobi are nearby," chuckles the shark-like male, excitement rising at the imminent battle.

Itachi just inclines his head by a fraction. All of them are morons to the Uchiha except for Kisame. If his superior hasn't given the order for it. If it's not necessary then Itachi might of never have gone anywhere near to pissing of a jinchurriki with as much potential power as Naruto. It just isn't worth the risk of being ripped to shreds. A little ways off is Sasuke's group.

"It looks like Itachi and Kisame are standing just over there on that ridge. They're surrounding by a group of eight Konoha ninja. The leaf-nin seem unaware of two other Akatsuki members hiding nearby," informs Karin after her observation of what's going on over there.

"Let the leaf-nin attack first. They'll be able to take out at the least one of the Akatsuki members," commands Sasuke while Karin and Juugo just nod in response.

"Fine by me, as long as they don't break the Samehada," says Suigetsu, figuring it'll be a little bit of a waiting game here.

"Hey, un, looks like we're going to be seein' some action, yeah," says Deidara, smirking at noticing how many people are here to take out with his art.

"U-uh, y-yeah," Tobi shakily replies, not liking to show fear against his sempai.

Why the Hell does Deidara have to fly so damn high!? The clay bird that the two of them are currently on is about five hundred feet up in the air. Tobi is of course, afraid of heights. This is something Deidara understands except will poke fun at him about. It's just how their dynamic works adverse of how it's been with Sasori.

"Heh, chicken. How can a ninja be afraid of heights, un? Especially an S-class criminal such as yourself, yeah." Snickers Deidara.

"I-I'm n-not sc-scared!" Protests Tobi, visibly quaking with fear.

"Heh, yeah. We're goin' to be dive-bombing those pesky leaf-nin, un, as soon as they make their move. So, hold on tight," grins Deidara.

"WH-WHAT!?" Cries out Tobi.

Tobi peers fearfully over the side at the so far oblivious Konoha shinobi. He does NOT like the idea of being on the back of any bird, let alone a clay one, while it drops unexpectedly and quickly out of the sky. Plummeting at high speed towards the rock hard Earth below is not an ideal situation for Tobi. Though Deidara on the other hand finds this exhilarating to the highest degree.

"A-are y-you sure we n-need t-to d-dive b-bomb th-them? C-can't we j-just hit th-them from wh-where we are?" Asks Tobi, obviously afraid to death.

"No, un. We might miss 'em if we did that, yeah," explains the blonde.

"B-but!" Tobi tries to fruitlessly reason with him.

"Hey, un, looks like somethin's 'bout to start, yeah," Deidara cut off Tobi's futile protest.

()()()()()

"Is everyone in position?" Kakashi's voice comes on over the headphones.

"Hai", is the reply from the other three groups.

"Good. On three move out. One… Two…Three!" Exclaims the silver haired jounin, hoping this will work.

At first it seems like nothing happens when Kakashi gives his signal, but in fact the plan has begun. Hinata activates her Byakugan, while Shino sends out his bugs to crawl over to where the two missing-nin are standing. Naruto begins to lightly thread more of Kurama's chakra into his system to allow it to spread out a web that comprises of a mix of chakra and her power to alert him to any problem, although that isn't a part of the plan.

"Hey, guys, we might have a problem," Naruto's voice interrupts everyone's concentration.

His teammates' initial annoyance is overridden when they hear the seriousness in his voice. Little do they know that Kurama has just let Naruto know about the two extra Akatsuki members floating somewhere in the sky. His chakra web has definitely paid off. Hopefully this will be enough of a warning to have some of their group tend to the extra enemies o their hands.

"What is it, Naruto?" Asks Sai, a little nervous of what this might be about in particular.

"Look up," is his only response.

The others have to stifle exclamations of surprise when they see the big clay bird lazily floating above them. None of them thought that there might be reinforcements lurking nearby.

 _Shit!_ Is Kakashi's exact line of thought on the fact that he hasn't taken into account on extra company. "They've probably already noticed us. This is bad…"

"Do we need to retreat?" Asks Hinata tentatively.

"Hell no! We might not get another chance," says Naruto, impatient to finish the mission, and get one step closer to retrieving Sasuke.

 _Don't be hasty,_ the demon sealed within Naruto warns,  _I know that you're worried about your boyfriend, but it won't help anyone if you get yourself killed and more importantly, me locked away slaving for those Akatsuki bastards._

 _Shut up_.  _You're annoying me,_ hisses Naruto, darting his eyes every which way, keeping on guard for anything that might come at them.

 _I can very easily say the same to you, brat,_ growls Kurama, showing her displeasure at his childishness in this situation they're currently in.

""Um, Naruto-kun, what's that?" Asks Hinata quietly.

"Huh? Oh, it looks like a… BOMB!" Shouts out the blonde, staring at the quickly desending clay figure which he knows is Deidara's medium for his explosives to show that this isn't good…

_BOOM!_

Kakashi looks up, seeming to be startled by the loud noise, "What the hell?"

"What is that sound, Kakashi-sensei?" Asks the rosette, a bit taken aback by it.

"Sounded like a really big bomb going off," answers the jounin, stating the obvious though except for the others they may or may not be able to recognize what it is. "It sounds like it's coming from… Oh, shit!"

"What?" Prompts Sakura to know, not liking the sound of this in the slightest, feeling worry grow for the knucklehead and Hinata.

"It's coming from Naruto and Hinata's direction," explains Kakashi, frowning in concern for what they might be dealing with on their own.

Heh, sounds like Deidara already is making his move," the shark-like man chuckles, a predatory glint in his eyes for the skirmish, anticipating the chakra that will be gathering for his blade to consume.

"Let's just hope he's not stupid enough to kill the jinchurriki," says Itachi with his usual lack of emotion.

"What in the name of Kami is that?" Suigetsu blurts out at hearing the explosion.

"It came from the direction of the Nine Tails," replies Karin, keeping track of what's going on with relative ease.

"Who asked you?" Suigetsu snaps, still not on good terms with her ever since she became crazy for the Uchiha.

"Stop it, you two," hisses out Sasuke in a dull monotone, unconsciously mimicking his brother considering they both have similar mannerisms.

He doesn't show it, but he's a teensy bit worrisome about Naruto. Okay, maybe more than a teensy bit even though he tries to kill him multiple times, Sasuke still thinks of the blonde dobe as his most precious person, and despite himself, almost constantly wondering if the fox has gotten hurt. What he also contemplates is whether or not he's generally just thinking about him. What he hopes is that he isn't going to need to kill or even harm him anymore than he already has in order to kill Itachi. Sasuke acknowledges that the feelings he has for Naruto; especially the feeling of what he could only describes as lust that he has since shortly after they were put on the same team. He's not exactly very straight to the point about these things because emotions aren't his forte. On second thought, he doesn't care. Uchihas never overreact to anything Even if they feel something akin to love for someone their own gender. Nope. It's thought to be taboo to show emotion for anyone in the Uchiha clan towards anyone.

 _Leader-sama, you might want to see this,_ Zetsu says over his mind link with the leader, thinking this looks like it might get troublesome...

Over a hundred kilometers away, safe in Amegakure, Pein's eyes narrow ever so slightly. This certaintely isn't looking good. The brat isn't suppose to be able to pull out that much of Kurama's chakra to even live! No human, jinchurriki or no, even those with seals more advanced than Naruto's, have ever come close to that strength. Coming to a decision is when he responds to Zetsu over their link of sorts.

_I will send Hidan and Kakuzu to their aid. Fear not for we will soon have the Nine Tails in our clutches. Only then can we amount to true peace through ultimate pain._

**_Oks, that's the end of chappie one. I hope you all find this rather interesting. The chappies will be broken up into shorter ones. That way it saves me some peace of mind with editing it. Trust me, this needs a hell of a lot of revision done. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly. Hopefully it won't be too long of a wait for it. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	2. Waves

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for, Chasms of Sixteen. To be honest with y’all this is a title I’ve wanted to use for such a long time now. Well, this fandom with its fanfiction and all has assisted me in writing stories that I’ve wanted to do for ages. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, enough of me being silly and strange. Nope, never giving up on being that way though. I hope you all enjoy. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 2: Waves**

“Naruto? Hinata? Hello _?”_ Asks Yamato over the intercom. 

When all he receives in reply is static has him turning to Sai to tell him, “That doesn’t sound too good. We need to go check it out." 

Sai just nods in agreement. There doesn’t need to be any words in exchange to know he gets it. The explosion has come from where Naruto and Hinata are. That isn’t good because that means Naruto has only one person to protect him. Yes, the kunoichi alone is knowledgeable and strong, but there needs to be more than one person to defeat this many of the Akatsuki members. 

“Everyone, Sai and I are going to check to see if Naruto and Hinata are okay. Start the plan without us,” says Yamato through the intercom system, hoping they’ll make it in time.

“Hai.” 

()()()()()

Meanwhile, Hinata quivers, curling into a ball with her hands over her head. When she realizes that she isn’t dead from the huge explosion. Blinking a few times, she relaxes her muscles.

"Hey, Hinata, you okay?" Resounds the voice of Naruto. 

By the sound of it has her thinking that his lungs aren’t working right. Thus, causing his voice to be laden with pain. Hinata turns her head around to look over her shoulder towards the sky. What she sees is the reason why she hasn’t been blown to bits. Naruto’s standing over her protectively surrounded by glowing red energy. There’s trickles of blood pooling about his feet. Everything else around them is turn to cinders and flatten out quite a bit.

“H-Hai… What went on here?” she asks, shaken a bit though that’s probably due to the adrenaline spiking through her veins.

Chuckling dryly, Naruto answers, “That bastard Deidara dropped a bomb on us. I don’t want one of my friends to get hurt…. So, I shielded you. I don't think the shield I put up around me is able to block all of the blast though. My back hurts like hell.”

_Kit, you're a moron. Thanks to your innate desire to be a hero, you now have burns all over your back and part of your spinal cord is blown out,_ hisses out Kurama in worry.

_Then how am I still talking and moving, huh?_ Naruto asks her in response, understanding what the intense pain is from.

_I set up a system where my chakra can act in place of your major organs, duh. Haven’t you been paying any attention all those times you have a vital organ demolished and/or ripped out?_ Kurama asks, being patient although it’s running a little thin I the midst of those that desire to capture them. 

_I guess not…. Thanks,_ says the blonde to his inner beast sheepishlysheepishly. 

“ _N-Naruto-kun!” Calls out Hinata as her hero collapses, deftly catching him in her arms, noticing the wounds on his back to see that most of the flesh is completely burnt off with the rest is badly burned, assessing the damage to see that he has several broken bones and his spinal cord is indeed, cut in several places._

“Well, well, well. What do we have 'ere, un?" Deidara asks as his clay bird lands nearby to have the semi-conscious Naruto and Hinata to look on in shock. “Tobi, take care of the girl. I'll get the fox brat."

“Okie dokie,” says Tobi energetically, unsure of if he really wants to do this except he doesn’t want to disappoint Deidara nor any of the other members of the infamous organization. 

This is starting to become messy. The blonde isn’t suppose to have merged with the fox enough to still be conscious from that blow. The blonde truly is as interesting, and even more so than, Orochimaru has thought he is.

"You! You're the one that hurt Naruto-kun!" Shouts Hinata, gently laying Naruto down on his stomach. "You'll pay!"

"Oh really, un? Yeah, I'd like to see you try,” taunts Deidara.

"Um, Deidara-senpai, two of their teammates are heading this way,” he really doesn’t need this because if any more of Naruto's teammates are taken care of then the blonde can inadvertantely end up killing himself which isn’t good for him.

"Well, I'm sure that you can take care of at least one of 'em while I dispose of this girl, un,” scoffs Deidara.

Soon the battle is in full swing. In a matter of minutes the battle has been joined by Yamato, Sai, Kakashi, Sakura, Kiba, Shino, Itachi, and Kisame. Sasuke's group continue to watch from the sidelines. Despite their greater numbers, the fight is going downhill for the Konoha-nin. Although the Kurama is allowing him to start using her chakra in place of his spine if his life comes into immediate danger, has Naruto at the moment unable to move, and remains so until the fox running around in his head finishes healing him up.

"Gekkou Taki no Odori!" Cries out Hinata, spinning around to use her taijutsu skills to defend her comrade. 

A lot of the water from one of Kisame's previous attacks flies into the air. It’s lacing heavily with chakra that’s sent flying towards her adversaries. The projectiles blows up several of Deidara's bombs before they can hit the ground to lightly wound Kisame. Itachi calmly dodges the attack. Tobi is now nowhere to be seen. Everyone pauses for a second to readjust to the new situation. It seems that Tobi is gone, Kisame and Deidara are both slightly injured, while Itachi is merely scratched. Deidara is almost out of clay for his bombs to use, frowning at thinking he thought he might have enough to take them out with, feeling annoyance creep up of how this seems to happen sometimes. Itachi is beginning to run out of breath. Panting heavily, Hinata is almost out of chakra. Sai has a bad gash on his arm from Kisame's sword. Akamaru has a cut in his side. Sakura's fists are starting to bleed little, having a few burns from one of Itachi's katon jutsus. Yamato and Shino have both been burned by Deidara's bombs. Both are quickly tiring out. Kakashi also has burns from Itachi's attacks, having miraculously enough, been cut by Tobi. Apparently the little pest uses some kind of poison in his attacks which is starting to slow down Kakashi's reaction speed. Seeing this all play out is bothering Naruto, noticing that he’s almost done healing enough to join the fray except it’s not quite there yet. 

"Damn it,” mutters Kisame, hefting his sword as if for another swing. "This is taking too long." 

At that, he charges at Hinata to swing wildly at her. She’s starting to feel fatigue hit her from the chakra consuming techniques that she’s been using this entire skirmish. Unable to get out of the way in time, Hinata grimaces as her guts are almost completely ripped out. Gasping out in pain, she falls to her knees, struggling to breathe, before falling prone on the ground.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto cries out, mentally cursing himself for being unable to save yet another of his precious people. 

Crimson colored chakra pours out of him, feeling rage flow through his veins. Not caring for th fact that the gashes are still present on his back, he pushes himself up into a crouch to soon be surrounded by what seems to be the form of a three tailed fox. Bloodlust and rage continue to pour off of him in waves. Pounching, Kisame summons up a wall of water although it only serves to slightly decrease the speed of the rampaging jinchurriki. It causes to further enrage him. Kisame manages to block his claw swipe with the Samehada, heating up to glow red from the sudden intake of the fiery demonic chakra. Swinging the sword at Naruto has the chakra absorbing properties of the sword to serve to make it possible for him to land a hit. Slashing open the blonde kitsune's stomach has Such a maneuver is to no avail. The wound heals over again in mere seconds. The gashes and burns on his back also vanish without a trace by now.

Naruto's teammates are too busy gawking at the sight of the blonde's demon form to notice that Deidara is dropping another bomb that instantly kills Kiba and Akamaru. This might of taken out Shino if not for his shield of bugs. Naruto became royally pissed when he sees that even more of his friends die in front of his own eyes. In his mind id has him thinking it’s because he has failed to protect them. A fourth tail quickly spourts, having Naruto, hell bent on the thought of revenge is having him fight Kurama harderthan ever for control, and, understanding what Naruto is going through, she backs down to let him retain control for now unless things don’t succeed his way. It seems even Itachi is taken aback when Naruto not only survives going to the fourth tail, but is able to remain in control of his body. Most jinchurriki can’t survive even going to the third tail for them all to usually lose control around the first or occasionally the second. It’s unheard of for a jinchurriki to make it alive to such a high level. Though let alone resist having their mind taken over by the beast themselves.

The blood-soaked genin charges with a roar of pure fury at Kisame, forcing him to spring into action. He leaps to the side to swing his sword at the opponent. What he fails to notice is that this is a big mistake. The sword is almost instantly overloaded with Kurama’s chakra to have it burst into a thousand fragments. Many impale themselves in Kisame while others hit Sakura, Deidara, Kakashi, and Yamato. Several graze Itachi while one or two actually hit him. Kisame, by now pretty badly wounded, hit Naruto full force with one of his most powerful water attacks. Countering with something mimicking a rasengan, but much more powerful and volatile has him then splitting into two separate versions of himself. One continues to block Kisame's attack while the other circles around to attack the fish man head on at speeds rivaling Lee's without his weights on. Before what is happening is registering itself in Kisame's brain, Naruto has stuck a claw through his chest to kill him in one final blow.

The two remaining Akatsuki members have been fighting Naruto's teammates. By now Shino and Yamato have also fallen, dead. Sai and Sakura are badly wounded. Kakashi is pretty much out of chakra. Naruto sees this, roaring one to then charge at Deidara, leaping high into the air. The blonde bomber sees that Naruto is charging at him, noting his flight path to have himself veer off course in order to avoid a painful confrontation. No such luck is to be given to him unfortunately. One of Naruto's tails lashes out to wrap itself around the clay bird that Deidara is riding. The clay begins to melt from the extreme heat. With a feral growl Naruto yanks himself over to the flying Akatsuki member. Left with no other option, Deidara jumps from the bird to set off the explosives buried within it just as Naruto lands on its back, creating an explosion much bigger than the one he’s been using at the very start of this fight. It’s even more powerful than even the one he’s put down on Suna back when he’s been trying to capture Gaara. Landing heavily on his feet, Deidara staggers a bit. Looking up at where the bird has gone off. Naruto has been sent flying into the air by the blast. If he’s sustaining any damage then it’s already either in the healing process or covered over. Currently, he’s flying about four hundred feet off the ground, though, beginning to fall back to Earth.

“Do you think we need to join the fray yet, Sasuke-sama?" Asks Jugo, feeling the blood lust within him rising at the sight of the battle as he’s starting to shake with the desire to kill.

“Wait and see…. I get the feeling that our presence isn't privy to be out there just yet,” answers Sasuke, able to tell that Naruto’s still completely in control of his actions, doubting that the blonde is going to kill Itachi considering he knows about Sasuke's desire for revenge as much as he does. 

He might maim or torture the guy, but that’s fine by Sasuke. The more painful Itachi's death, the better. There are very few things as painful as Kurama’s chakra poisoning. Plus he wants to wait until Naruto has calmed down a bit. No need to uselessly risk his neck, after all. It actually hasn’t taken that long for Naruto to slay Deidara. The numerous bones that he’s broken when he fell are already mending thesmelves. It doesn’t make any difference to whether or not Naruto’s able to fight at this point, anyway. Itachi somehow manages to kill Sai and wound Kakashi in the time period it has taken for Naruto to finish his free fall, regain his bearings, and rip Deidara to shreds. Being so utterly pissed by now that, upon seeing the state of his team, he roars again to begin forming a fifth tail that almost causes Kakashi and Karin to panic.

Back with Sasuke's group, Karin is marveling at how completely his chakra has changed, until it doesn’t even vaguely resemble chakra anymore. She does know about it, but Naruto's human chakra is extremely low. If it’s all he has then he might of been dead from chakra exhaustion by now. Running solely on Kurama’s chakra now has his little remaining energy dedicated to keeping the seal intact, not having any thought to let the beast loose anytime soon. Kakashi isn’t worrying about how weird Naruto's chakra patterns are right now. No, he’s freaking out because at that moment Naruto’s using over half of the fox's power. This is an event that Jiraiya has given a warning about if that happens then more than likely will put the seal under so much stress that it might completely shatter to release Kurama back into the world.

Both of those concerns are far from the first thing on Itachi's mind. Right now, his thought patterns pretty much consist of blanching at the fact he’s pissed off a jinchurriki capable of going over the limits of any other of his kin. Now, he really wants the Uchiha dead perhaps. Although with itachi being an Uchiha, doesn’t allow the fact that his mind is screaming at him to run like hell and don't stop till he reaches the end of the Earth show. Instead, he slips into a fighting pose to reactivate his Mangekyou Sharingan. Naruto, still in control, tenses as he readies himself to spring.

"Don't be scared now…. I’m only going to put you in a world of pain for what you and the rest of Akatsuki have done here. I have no intention of killing you. Oh, no, I'm going to leave that job to your dear little brother. He deserves the honor after all.” 

**_Oks, the chappie is ending right here. We’ll pick up with furthering the fight next time. I hope that sounds good with y’all. Like I said last time the chappies are rather long so I have to cut them up into shorter bits. It’s just how it is though._ **

**_I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	3. Flare

**_Alrighty, here we are with the next chappie for, Chasms of Sixteen. This is turning out well I think and hope. Well, at least for those who read this I suppose. It’s definitely an interesting revision project indeed. Well, let’s not keep you waiting long then. Hehes_ **

**_I hope you all enjoy. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 3: Flare**

Narrowing his eyes ever so slightly, Itachi throws himself aside when Naruto suddenly pounces. Managing to get out of the way of the initial attack except as soon as Naruto lands has all five of his tails lashing out, circling Itachi for him to narrowly dodge as best he can. One of the tails are able to catch him of guard. Little spines instantly form along the tail to prick Itachi to force the fox’s chakra into his own network where it immediately starts fighting with Itachi's normal chakra. Thus, causing the pathways to feel like they are on fire and several cases, start to burn. As suddenly as he pounces, Naruto whiplashes the tail holding Itachi captive around, before releasing him of its grasp, sending him flying into a nearby cliff side. Much of it collapses for a huge cloud of dirt to raise up. Impatiently, he disperses this with a simple futon jutsu. Itachi slowly stands up, having several broken bones when he smashes into the cliff and doesn’t have anywhere near to Naruto's healing abilities. He needs desperately to end this before he meets his own demise.

Knowing that there is a risk in such a maneuver, Itachi stares Naruto straight into the eyes, activating his most infamous ability as he whispers, “Tsukiyomi.” 

Stiffening as the advanced genjutsu hits him, Naruto blinks a few times to find himself in a ghostly world with a crimson moon and skies the color of dried blood. This place seems familiar, recalling when Kakashi has gone through this a long time ago. Though unlike other people he’s not afraid. Knowing how Uchiha’s work, Naruto is aware to show no fear I the face of an enemy no matter what their power level is. 

“Welcome to my world,” says Itachi, materializing in front of Naruto. "Here, I control everything. For the next seventy-two hours, you will watch yourself kill your so called 'precious people' over and over again."

Curling his lip into a snarl, he lunges at Itachi only to have the missing nin disappear in a flurry of black wings. He looks around to find that the scenery has changed. Now, he’s standing on top of the Hokage monument, looking down on Konoha. There are a few key differences, though. For one, it’s on fire, watching everything burn to ashes and cinders. For two, there are people screaming bloody murder. He soon sees why. There is a thing running rampant through the streets of his village. What he feels is a chilling sense of recognition. He can’t exactly put his finger on the identity of the cloaked figure. 

Suddenly, he hears Sakura cry out, “Naruto, please…..stop!" 

With a jolt, he realizes exactly whom that monster is. It’s him. Naruto watches in horror as this blood thirsty version of himself rips Sakura into bloody shreds, not actually killing her until the very last second. Naruto feels like puking. Then, the unthinkable happens. A familiar voice screams at him to stop as well, telling him that he’s not himself. What else he hears is to go back to the Naruto that voice knows all too well instead of this twisted version. 

_I know that voice,_ thought Naruto, dread filling every fiber of his being. _Sasuke! NO!_

Watching as his alter ego turns towards the raven haired male, he smirks while advancing with the silent stride of a predator confident in the fact that it will kill and feast upon its prey. His eyes widen as the thing that dares to wear his visage pins down a helpless Sasuke to the very cliff upon which Naruto’s standing on. 

“I've been wanting to do this for the longest time,” it whispers into Sasuke's ear. 

The demon has used a feature of its doujutsu to paralyze Sasuke, leaving him only with the ability to move his eyes and mouth. Naruto, realizes what that thing is intending… Screaming at it to stop, Naruto pleads for it to not do that and get away from Sasuke. It doesn’t seem to hear him in the slightest. Naruto leans forward to slip, catching himself on the rock to look at his arms and hands. They are see through.

"You don't get it, do you? You can't affect anything here. This is my world," the voice of Itachi whispers on the wind. 

Naruto pulls himself back onto the monumen. Trying to squeeze his eyes shut, to block his ears to just look away, he notices that he can’t though. Itachi has renders him unable to do anything except to watch. Naruto tenses up when he hears Sasuke start screaming, as the image of his best friend digs claws into his skin. Shaking with rage and apprehension as his demonic form mauls his most precious person, he looks on in helpless despair. What scares Naruto the most about all of this is that if he ever goes into the state where neither he nor the fox is in control again then he might very well do all of these things. Naruto's mind is in chaos. Seeing all of these things is starting to wear down on his mental barriers. It’s also having another effect. Itachi, knowing that the fox isn’t one to desire an insane jinchurriki is therefore going to try to break Naruto out of the genjutsu if given half a chance, has put up barriers separating her mind from Naruto's. Though, as Naruto's thought patterns boarder more and more on insanity, he unconsciously pushes at these barriers that lie between him and Kurama, they weather away, until the demon's mind is once again together with Naruto's.

_Kit! Don't believe him! None of this is real! You never will really do these things!'_ she shouts at Naruto, trying to keep him from going off the deep end. 

Some demons such as Shukaku , quite enjoy torturing their container to take their rage and frustration out on them, but not her. She has been sealed into an insane jinchurriki before. It’s something she never will allow to come to pass ever again. Finding it to be quite trying, she’s almost been following her host off the deep end with him.

_Yes I will…! You know I will,_ shouts Naruto back, tears streaming down his face.

_It’s not going to come to that, kit. I know what it feels like to lose precious people and blame yourself for their deaths. I’ll let you have control back before you kill any of them,_ she isn’t lying, thinking she might try to fight for control long enough for Naruto to hurt his precious people although she’s not going to let it come to killing despiteherself due to how the blonde idiot has grown on her a bit to the point she doesn’t want him hurt too bad. _Let me take full control for a few seconds. I'll make that bastard pay for doing this. Don't worry, though, I won't kill him.'_

Naruto's mind is in such turmoil that the fox's offer makes sense. In a daze, he accepts the terms given. Starting to feel himself sinking into darkness as the fox completely takes over for the first time in his life. Itachi narrows his eyes once again. Noticing that something isn’t right here…. There’s something off all of the sudden with the blonde's thought patterns. Too late, he realizes what has gone on here. Being utterly unprepared when the full mental power of Kurama slams into his will has them struggle briefly in a battle of the wills. Normally, Itachi is the one to win due to his natural advantage from the Mangekyou Sharingan, but Kurama has a doujutsu of her own. This is just as powerful as his bloodline. Within seconds, she overpowers his will to break the genjutsu.

Sasuke has been watching most of the fight with his Sharingan activated, recognizing the chakra patterns when Itachi cast the Tsukiyomi. What startles him is when a split millisecond later Kurama apparently completely takes over Naruto's mind to be able to shake Itachi's hold on her and Naruto's minds. Watching further with a feeling of impending doom as the figure straightens up, shows the final four tails defying all the laws of nature that decide not even a hanyou can go beyond five tails as they begin to sprout. Something in Kakashi's gut clenches as he realizes what has just occurred. Itachi has trapped Naruto in Tsukiyomi which, instead of the usual result of the victim collapsing causes the blonde to retreat into his own mind, allowing Kurama to come out and play. 

_We’re in deep shit now,_ he thought, glancing over to see Sakura and some others quivering nearby, knowing that she never feels this much blood lust coming from one person, thinking it impossible. 

Juugo's desire to kill instantly abates when he feels the blood lust and rage rolling off of the blonde in torrents. He unconsciously takes a few steps back, before tripping to sit there. Gawking in shock, he has no words to describe what he feels from Kurama’s host. Suigetsu isn’t doing much better, seeing that something has changed, though he doesn’t know what. He now wishes is he’s never come on this mission. All of his nerves are wound up real tight while his brain is screaming at him full force to run like the wind to never look back. What keeps him there instead is his body frozen to the spot, not obeying him. Karin is faring the worst, able to clearly sense that the demon is in full control now to being an inch from having a panic attack. Screw how good Sasuke looks right now to her. Nothing is worth being within a million miles of this thing. Though the Uchiha on the other hand is perfectly calm. Why? Well, he’s been nervous for a second that the demon might kill Itachi, but it’s clear that it has no intention of doing so either. 

When he judges that he’s been waitinglong enough, he turns to his team to tell them, “Come on. It's time for us to intervene."

"Are you crazy!?" Karin shouts in a panic-stricken state. “Why the hell do you want to go anywhere near that?” 

“It seems to be pretty much working on Naruto's wishes. That makes sense due to the design of the seal. Naruto isn’t wishing for me nor whoever the hell I choose to be on my team to be hurt. So, we don't have to worry about an attack from that front. The other three might be a problem… It’s highly possible that more Akatsuki members are going to arrive soon at this rate. So, you three only need to worry about those possibilities. I'll deal with Itachi and….Naruto,” answers Sasuke simply as if it’s common sense.

Jugo and the other two nod even though Karin has a visage of worry about this. Sasuke’s logic makes sense considering how he isn’t much of one to dwell on possibilities. Anyway, he knows that his comrades will do as he says for them at knowing he has the plans set out for this. Suigetsu and Karin are a bit more argumentative until finally Sasuke tells them to stay here and they’ll only have to join in if anyone else actually does appear. He also calls them cowards and several other things which causes Suigetsu to grow angry. This makes him decide to come along while Karin remains adamant. The trio descend to where the fox is playing with Itachi, battering him around like a cat will for a mouse. A little bit before Sasuke and his group make their move, Naruto and Kurama are having a little chat.

_Hey, fluffy, we're dying, aren't we?_ Asks her host, feeling his energy waning the longer he stays in this state. 

_Sadly, yes, that’s correct. Your human body can't take this kind of damage,_ the vixen replies, ignoring Naruto's nickname for her.

_I'm sorry,_ is all he can think to say for that, knowing it’s been a long road thus far, wondering if he truly wants to end it here in the midst of a battle.

_Huh? What do you mean that you're sorry?_ These words confuse Kurama, unsure as to why he’s apologizing all of a sudden, frowning at what he’ll tell her next.

_It's because I’m not strong enough to resist the Tsukiyomi or protect my friends that this is happening. It isn't your fault you got sealed into a moron who can't do anything right. Although you never told me why, I bet you had a pretty damn good reason for attacking Konoha,_ answers Naruto with brutal honesty, holding nothing back to her.

Gazing sadly down at her host, she sighs at knowing he’s far too kind for his own good, though she is awestruck at his ability to find light within the soul of even the one who’s at fault for the suffering he’s gone through during his early years. It’s also the reason why he’s had such a group of S-class criminals after him. Shaking her head, Kurama wonders what she’s thinking, but knows it’s genuine.

_Don't think like that, Naruto. The fact that you can resist my power when it suits you and how you manage to survive this long are both amazing,_ admits the fox, deciding that she’s not going to tell him now about when she attacked the village though it’ll be later when it’s a better time to tell that story. 

_You're just saying that,_ grumbles the blonde, unsure if she’s being truthful with him or not, finding no deception in her voice, feeling a small smile grace his lips. 

_Do you see any other jinchurriki who've been able to dodge Akatsuki this long? Have you met any with the ability to go past two or three tails?_ Challenges Kurama in response, being patient with him though.

_I guess not,_ admits Naruto after a bit of thought.

_Case and point closed then,_ chuckles Kurama lightly.

_Hey, something is going on out there! Is that… Sasuke!?_ Asks Naruto, causing the fox to laugh under her breath at how fast his attention shifts though it’s one thing she admires of him how he has the attention span of a squirrel, reminding her of her younger self.

_Careful kit! Let me relinquish my hold first,_ her warning goes unheeded as Naruto tries to yank control back from her, having Kurama to let Naruto have full control except she isn’t able to unravel her mind from the control center of his body quick enough.

For about a minute has Naruto trapped in the between form, where neither he nor the demon are in control. Instead, he just lashes out at anything moving. It’s not much time, but it’s more than enough. Everyone in the vicinity notices the change to see that Naruto has switched from the fox being fully in control to the halfway state. Itachi, Kakashi, Sakura, Juugo, Sasuke, and Karin all freeze in their tracks. Suigetsu doesn’t though for him to start pedaling backwards, attracting the attention of the Nine Tails.

Unfortunately, he gains a lashing out from a claw at Suigetsu, spearing him through the heart, the fiery power of the fox kills him even though he turns to water even though he’s not aiming for them, Sasuke and Juugo both have to dodge, also attracting attention. Something registers in Naruto's mind when he sees Sasuke. A whole mix of emotions float up, though the mind of the in-between only is able to comprehend the jealousy, the hate, and the feelings of betrayal. It charges Before Sasuke has time to properly react, the claw curves back to take a chunk out of his side. Normally it’s not too life threatening except with the fox’s chakra poisoning taken into consideration has the wound being a mortal one. Just at that moment has Kurama able to completely relinquish control, ending the in-between state.

_Kit, I'm sorry. I wasn’t able to give you full control fast enough,_ frowns Kurama, hoping nothing too terrible went by during that time.

_I understand. I’m being an excitable idiot,_ says Naruto in response, taking in the scene before him with horror in his eyes, knowing full and well that this is all his fault. 

Behind him, Itachi starts to laugh for him to choke out, “Ironic, isn't it?" 

Naruto briefly notes that he’s forgotten to remove his vocal cords. Itachi's maniacal laughter turns to coughs and wheezes shortly thereafter. So, he doesn’t have to worry too much he hopes. Still, those words cut deep, recalling what happened during the time he’s been in the Tsukiomi.

"Shut the fuck up,” replies Naruto icily before dashing off to Sasuke's side to whisper. “Sasuke? I'm so, so sorry. I don’t want you to get hurt."

“N-Notyour f-fault, dobe,” says Sasuke, managing this much at the moment. "M-mine for not c-counting on your reaction. Fuck, I didn't want th-this to happen. I don't care about dying, b-but I'd hoped to kill him… I d-didn't want to hurt you anymore. I'm sorry." 

He whispers the last part for Naruto to barely hear him. Starting to feel tears forming at the corners of his eyes, Naruto mentally curses at himself for allowing this to happen. This isn’t his time to go. No, no, no, it can’t be his time to pass on.

“This brings a sense of de jà vu, huh teme?" Naruto whispers to the raven haired male, brushing stray strands of hair out of his face

“Yeah.… D-don't forget what I said last time, ok?” Sasuke asks him, having his eyes half-lidded. 

Don’t worry, I won't," promises the blonde, mentally adding that he can't promise that truthfully except he’ll listen, though. 

“I’ll miss you, Teme,” says Naruto before closing his eyes to kiss Sasuke full on the lips.

Being afraid of what emotion he might find on Sasuke's face when he opens his eyes has him still hopeful. Will there be hate? Disgust? Instead, Sasuke's eyes are widening in shock. Not for long, though because before Naruto can pull away has him starting to return the kiss, closing his eyes to dart his tongue out to lick Naruto's lips. This makes Naruto even more surprised than Sasuke has been for him to readily part his lips, letting the wounded Uchiha slide his tongue into Naruto's mouth, exploring every crevice of the warm cavern. One of the two of them, or maybe both moans with pleasure. When they finally part for air, Shakily, Sasuke lifts his hand to touch Naruto's cheek, running his fingers over the whisker like marks. Naruto put his hand over Sasuke's, whispering the raven's name, causing the Uchiah to give him a faint ghost of a smile, before falling into a coughing fit. 

"G-goodbye, d-dobe," are his last words he whispers, before trying to gulp in as much air as possible, ending up failing as his lungs force him to stop by the burning sensation to breathe out, not drawing another breath.

“Sasuke, please, wake up! Damn it, you can’t go now! No, no, this can’t be….. Sasuke!” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of this chappie. Hmm, good thing there’s a reason why second chances are possible; especially for Naruto. You’ll see what I mean next time. Hehes_ **

**_The next chappie of this will be out shortly. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	4. Trickle

**_Welcome back for the next chappie for, Chasms of Sixteen. Hmm, this will indeed be a fun continuous project when it comes to something to revise. Hopefully you all are enjoying the progression. It’ll be fun for y’all to see what happens next. Hehes_ **

**_I hope you all enjoy. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**_Chapter 4: Trickle_ **

Sensing the two remaining members of Akatsuki approaching along with the two new recruits, though they are still about half a minute off is worrying. The last thing Naruto wants is to be caught here; especially when laying someone precious to their final resting place. It’s not something he feels comfortable about. Though that’s how it is for some things that must be done.

"Hey, you, guy who’s standing next to Sasuke,” says Naruto to Juugo, his body tensing as he prepares internally for the upcoming battle.

"My name's Juugo,” says the spiky orange-reddish haired male.

“Juugo, can you take two of my friends far away from here? The two currently alive are a silver haired jounin with a mask over the lower half of his face and a rose haired kunoichi. A big fight's about to start…. I don't want them taken out in the blast,” answers Naruto, hoping he’ll oblige to his request.

"What's in it for me?” He asks in response, not one to do things for others outside of the team for free.

“Kurama will seek you out when this is all over. She's powerful and has agreed to repay my debts for me in order to pay her own debts. She won't harm you. She knows a wide range of techniques. She’ll be able to help you with whatever the hell you need assistance with,” answers Naruto out of the blue, going with what’s been set in motion.

“You’re planning on releasing the demon?” Jugo asks in shock of hearing this admission.

“Better than letting Akatsuki have her. As part of our deal, she’s agreeing to leave certain places alone,” explains Naruto, not wanting to waste too much time with this little chat.

“Fine,” is Jugo’s answer after a bit of thought. 

“Thank you. The two will be right over there,” says Naruto, pointing over in the direction he last saw them.

Nodding, Jugo walks off to where Naruto's two surviving teammates are to be found. It’s not going to hurt to help the guy after all. Maybe Kurama will be able to help him with his issues. Leaving this world is a hard decision for Naruto to make. At losing so much he sees no other option available to him. This is a last resort method anyway. Waiting until he feels the chakra signatures of Juugo, Kakashi, and Sakura almost completely fade away before turning his attention to the four Akatsuki members now flanking him. This is what he expects to be met with at this point. The leader is still outside of his range.

"Huh, brat is able to kill Itachi and Sasuke. Impressive. Though Pein and Madara are going to be pissed that Sasuke's dead,” remarks Konan with mild interest.

“It doesn’t make any difference,” Zetsu replies, staring at Naruto from a distance, having been watching for a while except he’s had only now to come closer to reveal himself considering he doesn’t need to guess if Leader will be angry that Sasuke’s dead due to how he already knows about this from his reports.

"I'll just cut the little shit to pieces!" Hidan exclaims, raising his scythe to charge right at Naruto to find his attack is bing blocked by a wall of crimson chakra that seems to appear out of thin air.

Naruto gently lay Sasuke down, before standing to turn to face the undead Akatsuki member, “You have ten seconds to get the Hell out of my sight before I rip you into shreds.” 

_This kid… Who… No, what is he? I've never felt this much power radiating from anyone! Not even one of the demons or even Madara,_ thought Konan, a little bit frightful though doesn’t show it on the surface.

“3… 2… 1… Prepare to die, bastards,” growls out Naruto, charging. Hidan even though he misses the rest of the countdown apparently. 

Managing to dodge, but just barely for the now Nine Tails to immediately swing back around in order to charge again. Hidan's ability to keep himself alive even when having been torn to bits is to no avail as his body burst into flames, swiftly turning to ash. At this fate has him unable to reattach what is no longer there.

()()()()()

In Amegakure, a clone of Madara steps out into Pein's sight. 

"Release them," orders the Elder Uchiha, knowing that it will take the other captives to be able to subdue the fox. 

Pein nods for him to begin unwinding the bonds on the captured ones to bind them to his will. Shortly after, he finishes releasing and binding the first four as the fight continues on in the other area.

“Are you sure this will work?” Pein asks the other male, receiving an icy glare in response.

“Hn, trust me, love. It’ll work for us to finally have Kurama to accomplish our goals of eternal peace. You remember how it goes, right? There must be ultimate pain to endure in order to gain any sanctuary.” 

()()()()()()

With Kurama being back in action, she finally pins down Konan to rip her guts out. Kakazu has been taken out in a single shot by a claw through his chest. Then the fox turns on Zetsu next. The leader releases his minions out, knowing that Zetsu is probably able to survive long enough for reinforcements to arrive. A couple of minutes later, Zetsu is on the run from an angry vixen, when Shukaku and Nekomata arrive on the scene. They charge at her, giving Zetsu a chance to retreat as far as he can possibly to still observe the fight. Soon, Isonade and Sokou come, still being knocked around a lot though. They’re in no time at all for Sokou and Isonade to fall dead while Shukaku is wounded.

A little later, Houkou and Raijuu join the fight. The fox is starting to have a hard time, now. It doesn’t take too long for her to kill off Shukaku, but his body is immediately reanimated by Nekomata just like Isonade's and Sokou's have been. They are much weaker than the originals except they’re still pretty damn annoying. Suddenly, Kurama leaps to dig her claws into Nekomata's fur, latching on tight to her to havesome trouble, though because of the cat demon's Shinigami bestowing power has her feeling his powers weaken. Shecorrectly guessing that Naruto has been the cause, lending a hand from the other side. Pummeling the cat's belly with her back claws, she spills her guts all over the ground. The Shinigami is unable to save her this time.

Before she can react, a wall of earth slams into her, surrounding herself with lightning natured chakra. This causes the earthen cage surrounding her to crumble. Shaking her head, Kurama turns her attention to her two remaining adversaries. Houkou has been the one to summon the wall of earth. Briefly, Kurama wonders if Kaku is going to howl anytime soon. As if the thought has the power of summoning her, has Kaku, arriving on the scene. She can’t actually see her, but she can acutely smell and feel her presence. The fox leaps aside as the ground under her feet crumbles, falling into a deep underground cavern.

Rebounding off of the cliff that Itachi has slammed into earlier causes it to form a large crack, Kurama uses it to fly itat Raijuu, surrounding herself with wind chakra in preparation for his attack. Her assumption that his first reaction is going to be to pelt her with lightning is correct. She sent slicing gusts of wind ahead of her, cutting through his defenses. She then latches her claws into her fur, biting his neck. They struggle briefly, having Kurama continuing to release wind chakra before she senses Houkou preparing to attack her. Pretending to be oblivious to the incoming fireball, Kurama detachesherself from her opponent to throw herself out of the way just before it makes contact, leaving Raijuu to burn. The other demons apparently have absolutely no sense of teamwork. Large spikes of earth thrust themselves up out of the ground, spearing the crown princess of the kitsune in the belly. Coughing up a lot of blood, Kurama shortly after falls limp.

_Stupid Raijuu,_ indignant at his burns and cuts, strode up to her body, boasting about how he’s assisting in the capture of one of the four most powerful demons in existence and one of the only two nine tails alive today. 

Imagine his surprise when as he pokes the bloody corpse has him to be engulfed by wind-aligned fox fire. Thus, he dies off quickly due to how the wind natured half of Kitsunebi negates his lightning shield, while the fire natured half burns him to death. Houkou shakes his head at the sight of this. It’s just like Raijuu to do something that stupid to slip into a ready stance, searching the surrounding area for signs of the fox, catching sight of her. Well, he doesn’t exactly see her since it’s more like sensing her on the basis of her spirit. Being hidden underneath an elaborate genjutsu, which Houkou is only able to even so much as sense let alone see through because of his status as the master of illusion. Kaku doesn’t notice a thing. Due to how it’s never come to Houkou's mind to warn someone not of his original pack about upcoming danger, cursing of how unprepared they are for this. Springing towards her foe, she sees that they’re throwing any earth in her way to the side with a doton jutsu.

Kaku and the fox struggle briefly, but Kaku's much lower strength and experience soon lost her the fight. After the badger demon is reducing to nothing more than a bloody pile of hide, fur, meat, and bones has the vixen turning towards the illusionist dog demon, seeing how he’s idly waiting for her to notice him. Stealth and trickery don't come naturally to either dog or wolf demons. So, Houkou hasn’t taken into consideration that it might serve him better to attack Kurama while she’s preoccupied with his teammate and her back is turned to him. Canines are upfront fighters, living by a strict warrior's code of honour, versus the rouge's code of honour that the vulpine upheld. He finishes the genjutsu he’s been weaving, trapping her in it. What she responds with is an equally powerful genjutsu, dispelling his in a matter of seconds. The battle is shortly thereafter due to her capabilities, allowing her to cast what are known as true illusions. This is an ability only held by a few.

"My, my, my, what do we have here? So, the great majestic Kurama is able to slay all seven of her adverseraries,” chuckles Madara, clapping a few times with his glove covered hands, clearly in a pleasant mood at the show he’s been privy to witness.

Whipping around, she stares in surprise at the human looking creature who dares to challenge her, knowing that chakra signature all too well. Curling her lip into a snarl, Kurama’s eyes glow with rage at recalling those foul memories of being under his control!

“You!” Roars the fox, infuriation rising at how he shows his face. "What in all the hells are you doing here, you bastard?!"

“Don’t you want to know? Sorry! That information's a secret,” says Madara in response, his lips twitching ever so slightly into a small smirk while the rest of his expression remains stoic.

Snarling at him, Kurama spits out, “You’re no match for me, no matter how many little powerups you get! I'll always be stronger…” 

“Go on believing that, my dear," laughs Madara, finding this amusing as if it’s all some sort of game to him. “Soon enough, my ambition shall be complete. The deaths of a few pawns is inconsequential in the grand scheme of it all… Yes, even the death of Sasuke won't set me back to far. Let’s just say it’s more of an annoyance than anything else."

Her eyes narrow, knowing that Madara is no idiot, to challenge one of the only two nine tails in existence. What does he have up his sleeve that’s making him so arrogant? Suddenly, it hits her. Why else is he so nonchalant about the loss off one of his clan when he knows that he’ll need more than one Sharingan of Magekyou status or higher with the user's potential high enough to exceed a three tail on their own? One with such potential similar to Itachi has the lack with how he’s gone. There’s only one possible explanation left.

"Where the fuck is she, bastard? I'll rip your guts out,” hisses out Kurama, eyes flashing with rage.

"No need to be so rude… You’ll learn soon enough,” that’s when Kurama roars loudly, pouncing on Madara's location, chakra streaming from her fur and claws while his body dematerializes just as she lands a hit on him. 

What he’s done is come to know how to fully control the Highway. Lifting her bloody muzzle, she roars her frustration to the skies. She’s been so close to finding the one lost to her for so long. Now, it looksas if Madara is planning to start the next Shinobi War. Under any circumstances, can she allow that happen in the slightest. Growling in annoyance, she shape shifts into her humanoid form. 

What this consists of is a human female's body with long, flowing red hair that reaches past her waist. She has two matching ears sitting on top of her head while nine tails fan out behind her. The attire she has is finely woven chainmail shirt and leggings, with a dark red almost black cape that drapes over the ensemble. Her eyes are a piercing bright green that shows keen intelligence, having several weapons strapped about her person. This includes two swords, several daggers, and a staff that has runes covering the entirety of it. These are the only visible weapons on her. The swords are strapped to her belt along with two daggers, having another two daggers that are in their sheaths on the outside of her boots. Holding the staff lightly in her right hand, Kurama makes a decision, knowing she needs to stop Madara before it’s too late.

Turning towards the direction in which Juugo has gone out towards with her host's two surviving teammates, she begins to seek them out. It doesn’t take long to find them, able to heal both Kakashi and Sakura of their remaining wounds. As payment to Juugo for taking care of them. Sheuses a specific type of sealing technique to suppress his bloodlust. It takes a bit for when finally she is able to assure Kakashi that she has no intention of doing any further damage to Konoha nor any of its allies. What else? Well, she’s also over what has caused her to fly into a blind rage like that. She, of course, refuses to tell him her reason for attacking Konoha in the first place. Due to how he’s still unsure about whether or not to trust her, Kakashi sends for backup from Konoha via a messenger hawk, including information about the situation. Marking the message for Tsunade's eyes only, not wanting anyone else to see this vital information. 

To say that Tsunade is surprised when she receives the message is the understatement of the year. She immediately calls for an emergency council meeting, in order to discuss this new turn of events. After much debate, they decide to send out their major members along with an ANBU guard of twenty people so as to talk to Kurama. A message is also sent to Suna to tell them of this new turn of events as well. Konoha’s response.

In less than a week has the groups from both Konoha and Suna to arrive at the valley. There they spoke with Kurama. She swore to them that she isn’t going to attack them, assuring them that she has no interest in such things anyway. The explanation as to why she'd attacked Konoha in the first place is sketchy to say the least. Though everyone pretty much understandsthat it hasn’t been her original intention. Still, they remain wary of her to put up defenses along with some warning systems when they arrive back at their separate villages.

Pacing around her room in her personal pocket dimension, Kurama has repaid her debts to the kit, keeping her promises for now. All that is left to do is hunt down her enemies to then locate her closest friend. Not to mention how she needs to figure out what the hell Madara is really up to. Trying to start a war isn’t exactly a very good description, unable to shake the nagging worry that something is wrong. Maybe she’s forgotten or neglecting to do something. Despite the fact that he’s been the only thing standing between her and freedom for three years, Kurama can’t help to miss the hyper blonde. She’s fallen under his unique spell to become attached to him, ironically enough. Screaming out in frustration, she punches the wall closest to her, reducing it to a fine powder. Her fists clench one of the greatest generals to have lead a portion of the Rebel forces during the War realize what she has to do. What that is precisely is to stop all of this from ever having gone down. For that to happen is there to be only one person who can and will help her with this request. Vesper, the granddaughter of Time, is the single individual that can assist her to reunite with her prior container.

"Come in,” calls out Vesper as she hears the portal bell ring, knowing that the chakra signature of who this is, wondering idly why Kurama is coming to visit her of all people.

The fox sweeps into the living room where Vesper is sitting, tinkering with clocks of all sorts, from archaic hour glasses to new age digital clocks. Glancing around once, Kurama has business here that Vesper is the one and only person who can assist her. While she does want to engage in some idle chichat, she knows it’s not the time for it. 

"No beating around the bush, ok? Why are you here?” Vesper demands to know, remaining patient and calm even in the face of a kistune.

“I’ve come to ask for a favor,” answers Kurama, standing her ground.

"It doesn’t happen to be the illegal kind of favor, does it?” Vesper asks hesitantly, hoping this is something in her realm of comfort, not one to like going against the law here.

“It isn't necessarily illegal…. Though it’s probably widely something most frown upon,” admits the fox, being blunt about this at the thought to not waste too much time. 

“Kurama, you know what will happen if Grandfather catches me breaking the rules,” sighs Vesper, considering if it’s wise to help her at all.

“I need your help. You're the only Timekeeper who might be willing in a million years to help me for this. You’re the exact one who has enough power for what I have in mind. Anyway, you more than likely aren’t going to be working alone,” at that last part, Kurama has a small smirk on her lips, hoping that might catch her interest.

“What exactly are you planning?” the timekeeper inquires, guessing she can appease Kurama this one time.

“I know the rules of time travel well enough. So, I know that it's impossible for a demon to go back in time, but there's no law saying humans can't go back. I'm planning on reviving the soul of my last host to send him back in order to correct past mistakes. At the moment there's another Great War on the horizon. There’s only one plausible way to stop it which is too go back as far in time as possible to prevent it from ever beginning,” explains Kurama in full, leaving out no details. 

“What? Are you crazy? You’ll need the help of not only a reaper, but also a dreamwalker for that kind of stunt. Anyway, you’ll only be able to send him at the most as far back as his own birth or probably less,” admits Vesper out of anxious tension, not sure if this plan of the kitsune’s will work at all. 

“I know. I can call in a few favors for the help of the reaper and the dreamwalker. Yes, I can accept even a time as recent as three years ago will allow so many things to be possible to alter and prevent,” this response shows Kurama’s desperation to make this work well, not wanting this to flop with it being her only chance available.

"Alright. I'll help you if you can assure the help of the other two. You better know what you're doing though.” 

()()()()()

It took a bit of a while though she manages to gather those necessary for this. Kurama, Vesper, Akuriun, and Fortuna all gather round the multitude of symbols drawn into the cave floor. Fortuna is a young, aspiring dreamwalker who specializes in prophetic dreams. On the other hand, Akuriun is a mischievous young reaper who often snatches souls from the afterlife. This is only for those who wish to be alive again, returning them into the world either as undead or resurrect them into a species and position that completely clash with their personalities. Each of the four stand at a different corner of the figure centered in the room, facing northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest has them spreading their arms out with their palms facing down to begin chanting. The various symbols located on the walls, the floor, and ceiling all start to glow with an eerie light that cast a plethora of colors about the room, leaving no shadows, as the spell casters are being surrounded in immense power. It’s such that only the most powerful of demons can ever hope to come close to obtaining.

They begin to sense the border between this world and the next fluctuating as Akuriun rips Naruto's soul out of the Shinigami's grasp to throw him into Vesper and Fortuna's spell. Shortly after, Kurama glows a fierce crimson as her ties to Naruto's soul are reinforced to be drawn on as her power pours into the jutsu. She knows that even she isn’t going to be able to withstand such a constant drain of energy. Praying to the Goddess that she might grant with enough strength to see this through to the end, hoping that Naruto will come to understand her plans. This is for the best after all.

_Soon, kit, we’ll be back in action. Until then, just be patient, for you can assure that your mate doesn’t fall to such a terrible fate again._

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie four. I have this revised earlier than I thought I might. So, y’all get a double update today. I’ll be trying to work diligently on editing this as best as I can. Hopefully you all will like the changes and how I continue this._ **

**_Anyway, enough of me blathering on for now. I hope you all enjoyed what happened this time. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever it’s finished being written up. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	5. Thunder

**_Alrighty, here you all are with the next chappie for, Chasms of Sixteen. Indeed, idneed, there’s another update for this. Why? Because I feel like it of course. Besides, the only fanfiction I write nowadays is only Naruto while in the midst of working on my original works._ **

**_Anyway, enough of me blathering on for now. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 5: Thunder**

With a thud, Naruto rolls off of the couch that he’s fallen asleep on. After briefly struggling to untangle himself from the threadbare blanket he uses during the warmer months, he sits up to dazedly look around. Seeing his apartment is a surprise to him, thinking he’s meant to be with Shinigami instead.

_Huh? Hey, Fluffy, what just happened?_ Asks Naruto to the demon in his mind although when he receives no reply has him shouting at her to answer him even though she remains silent, starting to feel wary now as he prods his subconsciousness in search the for Kurama’s presence, beginning to panic as his search comes up negative for then to notice a trace amount of the all too familiar chakra, delving into the depths of his mind again to follow the paper-thin trail. 

He strains in the dark, passageway. Something about the sewer labyrinth within his thoughts still unnerves him. For one reason or another, he always seems to get the feeling that there’s something other than the fox watching him. It’s almost as if whatever it may be is waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Shaking off his paranoia, he turns down one of the many corridors in search for the whiff of Kurama’s chakra that he felt earlier. Wandering aimlessly for what seems like almost forever to turn down countless corners and passing an infinite number of dusty, passageways that lead off into the dark depths of his mentality, Naruto knows they remain haunted by little shapeless things that darted in and out of the shadows at the edges of his vision. Suddenly, he feels their ghostly, demonic eyes boring holes in the back of his head, causing chills to rush down his spine.

After all of eternity compressing into the time in between moments, he reaches the entrance to the cage room as he advances into the darkness. Unsure of why he can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t right, he glances around to double check where he is. Isn’t this place suppose to be lit up 24/7? What’s with the sudden power shortage? Shuddering at the very idea of what such an occurrence implies, he peers into the surrounding void, unable to even see his own hand when he holds it in front of him. Instinctively, he calls on a fragment of Kurama’s power, forming a dancing orange, red, and gold flame. Now, he can just barely make out the bars of the humungous cage. The shadowy impression of a hulking figure looms beyond inside of the cell.

"Hey, Fluffy, is that you?" he calls out, feeling a knot of dread form in the pit of his stomach of what he might find, thinking of the worst case scenario.

()()()()()

Vesper awoke from the nap she’s been taking with a start, “What in all the Hells!?" 

Swearing that she’s just feeling some idiot sending someone back in time, trying to calm herself down as the flashes of memory return to her of what’s gone by. After combing over the upturning section of the space time continuum, she comes to the conclusion that the identity of the idiot who’s dabbling in time travel is none other than herself. Taking back her earlier thoughts on the person being an idiot. Of course, she sighs in frustration about all of this. Naturally, if she has anything to do with it, then it must have been for a reasonable decision only brought about by the greatest of need.

“Alright, now that that's outta the way, who have I sent back?" Asks the timekeeper aloud, trying to approach this new problem from a strategical direction, feeling like a human which means an answer she doesn’t quite know of yet.

After careful deliberation, she arrives at a conclusion, “Oh yeah! It means that that person's probably in the Universe! Which sector though? Hm... Such a tough choice. Okay, Vesper, you need to decide which sector of the inhabited areas of the Universe is most likely to contain the idiot time traveler… Here we go! Einnie, Meinnie, Minny, Moe..."

()()()()()

“Hello?” Shouts out the blonde, inching closer to the shadowy form. 

Carefully, he draws on a sliver more of the the demonic energy, causing the handheld flame to gradually increase in size. By now, he’s right in front of the cage to see the outline of what’s definitely the fox. At the edge of the circle of illumination, he feels worrisome about why she doesn’t appear to be moving, though.

"Fluffy! Answer me!" Screams Naruto, summoning up enough power to cause the illusionary fire to flare up tremendously, revealing completely the prone vixen.

At first Naruto feels confusion wash over him by how she’s laying in a curled up position into a ball with her paws tucking under her belly while her tails wrap around her until he notices the slight rise and fall of her chest. There’s also the faint sound of snoring. As suddenly as a bolt out of the blue. Soon enough, the pieces all fall into place to figure out that she’s sleeping. How and why are the pressing questions on his mind. For the life of him can’t remember a time when he’s ever seen Kurama sleeping. A distant memory tugs at his consciousness. Although hasn’t her chakra beginning to feel just as far away in the real world before he graduated? Thinking back, Naruto can now recall that he actually hasn’t even so much as brush against a foreign power until the night of his graduation for even then he only just barely scrapes the surface of potential. Also, from that point, his awareness of the power that he holds within gradually increases until finally it’s almost as if she’s constantly in the same room as him.

After pondering for a bit while vigorously sorting through his memories, he realizes that both the seal and their power must have reset to how they are sometime before he graduates from the Academy. Naruto adds that conundrum to the list of the many things he needs to ask Kurama when she eventually wakes up.

_So, if we’re here….then how have we ended up here, huh? Aren’t I suppose to be dead?_

()()()()

"That one!" Vesper shouts, pointing at a holographic map that appears out of nowhere. 

It looks like the sector she'd chosen is the second least populated and extremely low on any form of humanoid life. Though let alone actual humans for this spot. In fact, there’s only one planet in the entire sector that inhabits human life.

“This is going to be easy!" Exclaims the entity, settling down to skim through the people, seeingas how the life form is a young male, and from the looks of things he’s also some kind of fighter. 

Probably he’s some sort of a ninja, mage, wizard, sorcerer, druid, priest, monk, cleric, maybe a paladin, or one of those smaller groups that keep on popping up. The thought of it causes her to narrow her search down to about a sixth of the population.

_Let's go_ , she thought to herself. 

After about an hour of their time searching along with about five minutes of mortal plain’s time, she locates who she’s looking for. Nodding to herself she stands to open the portal into the Highway. The Highway is the only dimension that connects to every other dimension (excluding the occasional hidden dimension) aside from one of the only non private dimensions that’s officially caught in between moments. There are several dimensions that have a tendency to vary how long each of their seconds is in comparison to the mortal world, having every now and then to get caught in between seconds for an undeterminable amount of time. The Highway actually isn’t a material world like most individuals think. It’s an enormous mindscape. It somehow encompasses the minds of every being in every dimension to allow for the transference of matter.

Vesper enters the void-like Highway, noting that luckily for her, it’s very busy at the moment. The chances of anyone actually noticing her are slim to none. After traveling for an infinite amount of time, she arrives in the area of the Highway that overlaps the Universe. It takes her almost no time at all to find the proper residence that’s set in a solar system on the opposite side of the Universe from another. Stepping into the shadows of the run down apartment, she hears the voice of a young boy calling out in confusion, deciding to make herself known.

"What is going on here?" Naruto asks the empty apartment room, still worrying over what might be going on with Kurama.

"Maybe you can tell me that," comes the voice of a feminine individual in her late teens. 

Wearing a pair of jeans and a tight tee shirt, standing a bit awkwardly in the modern Japanese apartment. An about 6 inch strip of her stomach is exposed from the style of shrit she wears. Watches are all over her person instead of the usual type. It changes depending on what time period she has to enter. A few examples are the earrings, bracelets, necklace, buttons, barrettes, and many more other decorations. The watches vary in design while some of them are alternate time pieces, such as hourglasses and sundials. Okay, maybe the apartment isn’t as empty as Naruto first thought.

"What! Who's there?” The jinchurriki asks, still ridden with confusion about all of this.

Vesper strides out of the shadows with her bearing hinting at someone that knows who they are and what they plan to do with their life, “I am Vesper! Granddaughter of Time. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” 

Naruto blinks, a little bit unsure if he believes her, “Wait, so you're a demigod?" 

"Duh! Who else am I suppose to be then?" she asks sarcastically, managing to lose the almost regal look she’s been trying to uphold just a few seconds earlier for Naruto to only look even more uncertain about this. "Anyway, who are you?"

"Me? I'm Uzumaki Naruto,” states the blonde, regaining his bearing for then as an afterthought, he adds, “I’m the jinchurriki to Kurama. I’m also a shinobi of Konohagakure, one of the five great Shinobi Nations.” 

Vesper blinks a few times, tilting her head to the side when she hears who he is, “Huh, I thought there’s something familiar about you! You're Kurama’s kit then I presume.” 

"You know her?” Gawks Naruto, wondering who this lady is precisely.

"Yup! Man, I feel sorry for you! She's going to be in a bitchy mood when she wakes up,” sighs Vesper.

“Yeah, I’ve already lived through her waking up once, you know,” points out Naruto. 

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. Whoops,” sweatdrops the woman in his home. 

“Anyways, what’s going on here?” Asks Naruto, wanting desperately to know.

“I’m guessing that my future self and Kurama’s future self conspired to send you back in time. The only reason I can think of as to why she might do that is that something went wrong for her enemies to become too powerful,” explains Vesper to her best capability.

“Oh, um, ok.… So, I’m suppose to fix what went wrong?" He’s not too taken aback about the whole time travel thing considering that weirder things have gone by in his life thus far.

"No dip, Sherlock. Oh, here,” she says, tossing Naruto a circular pendant that’s meant to look like a modern day clock except the usual numbers are replaced by Roman numerals. 

The hour hand is in the style to look like an hour glass. Though the minute hand is normal except for being made out of some type of gemstone, the facets of which show off a plethora of colors, ranging from red all the way to violet. Situating at the other side of the spectrum has the face of the clock showing a sun, lingering on the edge of the horizon. Naruto guesses that it’s rising, seeing as how on the traditional compass rose the East is on the right, and the sun’s currently on the right side. Clouds float lazily across the picture, capturing the suns rays. 

"It'll tell any idiot with half a brain and anything resembling connections that you have my favor,” explains Vesper, glancing at one of the many watches about her person for this one being on a golden bracelet on her right arm. "FUCK! I've been away to long! Grandfather's going to kill me! Bye, Naruto! I need to go right now! Hopefully no one notices that I’ve been gone!" 

Watching in amusement as she has a meltdown, he hears her voice reverberating as she enters the Highway, “Man, I’m going to be in _so_ much trouble!"

“Wow…. For a demigod, she acts a lot like... the closest comparison to Ino, I think,” involuntarily, Naruto shivers at the thought that such a powerful being has such a personality as Ino’s of all people.

Failing to find any indication of his status as a ninja, Naruto notes that his calendar says he hasn’t graduated yet. Although he probably can’t trust that thing, setting off for the academy with his goggles in their pocket. Not wanting to look like a complete and utter moron if it’s in fact after his graduation, he wonders what needs to be done to ensure the future goes swimmingly. Along the way, he notices that neither Kiba nor Choji are wearing their headbands. The date is right then as he sees Sakura with her usual red ribbon, holding her hair back versus the headband that she uses afterwards. Tying his goggles in their proper place around his forehead, Naruto follows Choji into the academy.

"Kiba?" Calls out Iruka.

“Here,” replies the Inuzuka.

“Choji?" Iruka calls out again as he takes count of everyone in the classroom today, taking note of attendance as per usual.

“Here,” replies the rotund male.

“Naruto?” Asks Iruka, glancing over to see if the blonde is here today.

“Here,” replies Naruto for Iruka to blink in surprise as he looks at him suspiciously, not thinking that he might be in class that day.

"Alright, now we can begin today's lesson.” 

**_Oks, let’s end the chappie right there, shall we? Like I’ve let y’all know before is that each chappie is being broken down into about four because like hell I’m not revising a ten thousand plus chapter. That’s just not reasonable for me to do to be honest._ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed what went down this time. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever it’s finished being written up. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	6. Quake

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie of, Chasms of Sixteen. This is turning out to be a fun one to revise. Hopefully the progression is good enough for you who decide to read this. If not, then oh well, at least I tried. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 6: Quake**

Ignoring the abnormal occurrence of Naruto actually attending class, Iruka tells everyone, “Tomorrow all of you will be taking the graduation test. I can't tell you just yet what it's on, but be prepared. When you do graduate to become shinobi. You’ll perform various missions to help bring in revenue for our village. As genin, you'll only be doing D missions and occasionally C missions. You'll be able to do higher level missions after you pass the chunin exams. They are held twice every year. These exams consist of ninja from many different villages. Are there any questions?”

“Yeah,” pipes up Naruto. “When will we be able to take the chunin exams?"

"The minimal requirement is 8 missions of any rank that you complete fully. Past that it's up to your teacher,” a wash of relieved that Naruto has actually given an intelligent question rather than babbled out some idiocy or another has iruka almost awestruck. "Anyone else have a question?"

"Are the chunin exams dangerous” asks a nondescript other student in their class.

Sighing in resignation, Iruka answers, “Depends on the protector. But usually they are indeed life threatening."

Over half the class gulps nervously. Life threatening? No way are they taking the exams! Naruto mentally groans in frustration at the thought of this. How can they expect to become ninja when they can’t seem to even handle a bit of risk?

"Naturally, as ninja unless you do D missions all of your life then you'll run into several instances where your life will be in danger. The greater your rank then the more the likelihood of running into a life threatening situation increases,” explain Iruka to the class. “If none of you have any more questions, we’ll go ahead to have a test on the three basic ninja techniques: Henge, Bunshin, and Kawarimi."

“Hai,” is the general reply from the class although knows that he still can’t use a regular bunshin even though he has been able to master Henge and fairly successful at kawarimi.

They line up for the Henge test first. Naruto’s close to the middle. Everyone in front of him transform perfectly. Apprehension increases, not sure if he’ll do well like everyone else with this.

_I wonder whether I’ll transform correctly or try to keep up the visage of being a hyperactive idiot,_ wonders the jinchurriki idly. 

What arguments he has with himself as to what course of action he needs to take will never know except it can deduct that his mental wanderings lead him to believe that not acting like a total moron will be best. It’s just so that his teammates aren’t going to suspect too much when he starts acting like he knows what to do. Besides, he chose to transform correctly into Iruka.

"Okay, next!" his sensei calls out, secretly feeling total relief that Naruto hasn’t done something stupid and inappropriate.

After they finish the transformation test. They run through both the bunshin and kawarimi tests, Unfortunately, he fails at the bunshin test, of course, the students are given dismissal, allowing them to go home. Walking home dejectedly. Naruto forgot that since he hasn’t painted the monument has Iruka probably not going to buy him any ramen. Hurrying past the slumping over shapes of homeless drunks, he feels thankful that at the least he isn’t them. After taking a few shortcuts through the many twisting alleyways in the poor section of Konoha, he arrives at the door of his dingy two room apartment. Being careful not to pull the half rotten door off of its hinges, Naruto steps into the 'living room'. In reality the living room is only a section of a larger room, separate from the bedroom by a screen. The living room consists of the wide windowsill that’s rather large enough to negate the need for a table. Several cushions, blankets, and rugs that he manages to scavenge over the years from various places is what he uses for decor and to keep warm during the chilly months. All of them are worn, with very little of their original color nor design apparent. The bedroom occupies the third of the room opposite to the outside wall. For some reason or another, it’s blocked from the rest of the room by a foldout paper screen. It has several rips and tears along it. The only furniture in the bedroom is a futon. It’s what Naruto uses in place of a more traditional type of bed. There’s also a trunk that serves as both a bedside table and closet/dresser. The futon also has numerous tears and stains along it while the trunk has obviously seen better days.

Knowing that if he enters the other room, he’s sure to find himself in the extremely small kitchen area. It’s about the size of a large bathroom. What it consists of is a handful of small cabinets, a rusty sink, a fridge, and a small stove. A table and two chairs sit in the middle of the room. Naruto has only been able to get the table because no two of its legs are of equal length, causing him to have to stuff old clothes under the shorter legs to prevent it from toppling. One of the chairs is a weathered foldable that he’s found in a dumpster once. The other is actually a stool with the padding leaking out from the seams. There’s another window in the kitchen, situating right over the crates When it comes for weapon storage, he uses those considering most people never look there.

Sighing, Naruto sits down on a particularly large cushion, contemplating what to do next. Nope, he’s not planning on eating dinner, seeing as how he has limited food. Right now, he’s not going to be spending much energy for the rest of the day. Naruto knows that he’s unable to pass the graduation test because of the requirement of being able to create a clone. Anyway, he’s hoping for another peek at the scroll, hoping to be able to stop Mizuki. So that that’s taken care of. Now, all he needs to figure out is how to save the Sandaime Hokage, Haku, Zabuza, everyone that he’s ever helped throughout the years. There’s also the thought of howto prevent Sasuke from leaving, all without revealing he’s from the future or screwing things up even more. Soon after, his head begins to hurt just thinking about all of it.

' _Most of that stuff I can worry about later when it's more urgent. I can know the situation at that moment better,_ reasons Naruto to himself, needing to figure out what he’s going to do about the whole scroll fiasco. _I want to learn as much from the scroll as possible. I probably need to use shadow clones to do that, but then again explaining that is awkward if I get caught._

After carefully thinking out every possibility, he decides to just go ahead to use shadow clones. If anything does go wrong then he’ll just wing it. Having finally come to a decision on his course of action, Naruto takes a scroll from his secret hiding place under the floor, starting to read through it. He actually has a secret hiding place in the event of a couple of jackass villagers deciding to trash his apartment. Sadly enough,, it happens quite often, although not as much as it used to. Shortly after he finishes up, he arrives at the Academy on the day of the graduation test. Only a minute or two late, he pretends to freak out when Iruka announces that the test will be on the Bunshin no Jutsu. When it comes to be his turn to clone himself, he acts seriously as he gathers chakra. Naturally, the chakra flares out of control for him to end up with only one busted clone, pretending to look hopeful when Mizuki tries to 'convince' Iruka to let him pass anyway. Acting sad when Iruka says no. After everyone finishes up testing, Naruto goes out to sit dejectedly on the usual swing. Following Mizuki when the chunin tells him to come with him, he sits down glumly on the rooftop.

"You know, Iruka's only so stern because he wants you to grow up strong,” says Mizuki when the blonde complains about how strict his teacher is.

"Yeah, I know, but I really want to pass,” sighs Naruto.

"Well," it’s Mizuki’s turn to sigh, clearly exaggerating more than a little about it, "I guess I'll have to tell you then…” 

"Huh? Tell me what?" Asks Naruto, looking at Mizuki inquisitively.

"It's a secret, you see? So, you can't tell anyone I let you know about this," cautions Mizuki, darting his gaze around to make sure no one is eavesdropping on them to see that Naruto nods excitedly about this in hopes he’ll go on. “Do you swear under the shinobi code to tell no one I’m letting you in on this?” 

“Of course,” replies Naruto without a moment of hesitation, eager to know what Mizuki wants to reveal to him, already knowing what it is although he has to continue playing the act.

“Huh, good enough I suppose. There’s this scroll…"

**_We’ll stop right there for this chappie, alrighty? I think that’s a good spot to end this on anyway. It’ll be interesting how and when everyone will find out what’s going on here. Hehes_ **

**_I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever it’s finished being written up. Hopefully that’s not too long of a wait for it. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	7. Rumble

**_Hey y’all! Here we are with the next chappie for, Chasms of Sixteen. This is fun to work on personally considering it gives me some time to revise. This does take it longer to update this, but oh well. That’s just how it is I suppose._ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 7: Rumble**

Stealthily creeping towards the Hokage Tower in the cover of the night, Naruto maneuvers through the halls once inside. To this day he still wonders why no ANBU has taken notice of him. Dashing in through a conveniently open window, Padding on cat's feet towards the scroll room has all of his stealth to be put to no avail though.

“Naruto, what in the world are you doing here?" the Hokage's voice is what he hears all of a sudden from behind him.

“Uh, um, well….Orioke no Jutsu!" Calls out Naruto, not really knowing any other way to get the old man off of his back without harming him, causing him to immediately faint from loss of blood due to a massive nosebleed just like in the original timeline.

After shaking his head at how the great Sandaime Hokage can be beaten by such a cheap trick, Naruto finishes his trek to the scroll room, securing the large roll of paper to his back. Quickly, he high tails it out of yet another conveniently open window. That settles it for now at least. First thing he’s going to do as Hokage even before he fixes the whole Hyuuga clan mess, is going to be to get some damn security around here.

_Hmph, well, that’s done. Now, I just need to wait for Mizuki and deal with him. It’s not going to be that hard, right?_

()()()()()

"Iruka! Open up!" Yells Mizuki, pounding on his fellow chunin's door.

"Huh? What is it, Mizuki?" Asks the brown haired man, opening the door to his apartment.

"You won't believe what Naruto has done this time! He stole the Forbidden Scroll,” explains the white blonde haired shinobi, knowing this will work perfectly for his plan to work if he can get Iruka to believe him.

What?!” Exclaims the sensei in shock.

“Hokage-sama, Naruto's gone too far this time,” hollers a random shinobi.

"Man, we need to find him before it's too late,” their partner grumbles

“Everybody, settle down!" the old man interrupts them. "We will search for Naruto in a calm and orderly fashion. No unauthorized actions at all. Whoever finds Naruto will bring him back here, where I will explain to him the severity of his actions. I’ll make sure that he is given a proper punishment. None of you are to take any negative or violent actions towards him. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Hokage-sama,” the crowd that’s come together here grumbles in unison. 

What they have been hoping to at the least is to be able to beat the kid. Ah, well, maybe they can convince the Hokage to give the demon brat the death penalty. With that cheery thought in mind has them setting off to find the missing fox container. Although what they might find isn’t what they expect.

()()()()()

“Naruto, what do you think you're doing?" Asks Naruto, having finally come across the location of the kid, catching sight of him sitting on the ground in front of an old shack, the scroll open before him on his lap when he hears Iruka has him closing the scroll to stand up.

“Heh,” says Naruto , rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Man, you found me fast! I only have had enough time to learn one jutsu…” 

_He’s been training this whole time_?' Wonders Iruka in surprise. _I can tell he's been working hard. He's all tired out._

_“_ Now, I’m going to show you the jutsu I have learned for you to let me pass. Finally at last I can become a ninja, right?” The blonde asks hopefully, knowing how this all plays out. 

“What gives you that idea?” Is Iruka’s response in sheer puzzlement.

"Mizuki-sensei tells me of course. He says that if I learn a technique from this scroll then I’ll be able to pass automatically. What he also tells me is where to find the scroll and all about this training place too,” explains Naruto in a rush, excitement running rampant within in hopes that he might make his sensei proud of him. 

_Mizuki?_ Iruka thought. Shifting his focus to the corners of his eyes has him seeing a flicker of movement. "Get down!" 

Pushing Naruto out f the way of the barrage of kunai that comes shooting out of the forest has both the jounin and genin on edge. The thought of a fight does worry both of them in different regards. Fortunately, they’ll both be more than capable to deal with Mizuki of all people.

"Give me the scroll Naruto," commands Mizuki.

"Huh? What's going on here?" Asks Naruto, feigning confusion perfectly.

"Mizuki tricked you and lied to you! He only wants the scroll for his own selfish gains,” explains Iruka to Naruto, still shouting a bit. "Whatever you do, don't let him get his hands on that scroll!"

Laughing bitterly, Mizuki says, "Me, lying to him? I'll tell you who's lying to him! They've all been lying to you for your whole life!"

"What do you mean?" Asks the blonde at now faking fear.

"No, Mizuki! Don't tell him!" Iruka shouts out frantically, not sure what Naruto will think when he finds out the truth.

"Even now he's trying to hide the truth from you. He's just like everyone else, telling you falsehood after falsehood ever since the decree made twelve years ago!" Exclaims Mizuki, keeping an eye on Iruka in case he tries anything.

"What decree?" Asks Naruto, visibly shaking at hearing all of this.

"STOP MIZUKI!" Screams out Iruka.

"The decree that only you can't know about! It states that no one can tell you that twelve years ago, instead of killing the fox, the Yondaime Hokage sealed it into you! You are Kurama,” says Mizuki triumphantly.

Naruto fakes shock at hearing this being seen the light of day, “Wh-what?” 

"Prepare to die, demon,” shouts Mizuki, spinning the large shuriken before throwing it at the prone jinchurriki.

"No!" Shouts out Iruka, preparing himself to see the spinning blade impale itself in his student even though suddenly the blonde dodges to roll to the side, before regaining his feet to then dash away.

"I'll deal with you later,” snarls out Mizuki at Iruka, bounding after Naruto without a moment’s pause to regain himself. 

Iruka has been hit in many more places than in the original timeline, having a hard time moving. Through sheer will or determination has him going to chase after Mizuki nonetheless. The Hokage watches, brows furrowing in concern as what appears to be Naruto runs blindly through the trees. 

Being caught up by someone who looks to be Iruka says, “Naruto! Mizuki's trying to kill you! Give me the scroll!"

Instead of responding, Naruto merely rams into the chunin, sending him flying. He settles back against the bark of a tree with a grunt. The scroll in question is protectively heldin his arms. Glaring daggers at Mizuki, he has a plan about how to deal with him here whether it be similarly or differently to when he’s gone through this before last time. 

"How'd you know?" the Iruka-look-alike asks before being surrounded by a cloud of smoke revealing Mizuki. “That I wasn't Iruka?"

"Because I'm Iruka," the Naruto look alike grins as he replies, also being surrounded by smoke, revealing Iruka with a log in his arms.

"Heh, why bother? You saw the look in his eyes. He's a demon,” points out Mizuki, seeming to be caught up in ignorance. “He’ll take the scroll for himself and use its power to exact revenge on this village. After all, that's his nature."

"You're right,” says Iruka through gritted teeth.

While this dialogue is going on, Naruto is creeping into a position from which he can successfully attack Mizuki, “That is what a demon will do. But that's not what Naruto will do. He messes up sometimes, and everyone is hard on him, but he works hard and has a large heart. He isn’t Kurama. He's Uzumaki Naruto, number one loudmouth of Konoha, and more importantly, my student!"

Mizuki scowls at Iruka's speech as he shouts, charging Iruka. Mid charge Naruto barrels into him, though, sending Mizuki flying backwards, “I've been wanting to save you for later, but now I'm going to finish you off first!" 

"Don't you dare lay a hand on my sensei!" Growls out Naruto. "If you do then I'll kill you!"

"Oh, yeah? I can take a brat like you out with one blow,” boasts Mizuki.

"Bring it on, bastard! I'll return the pain a thousand times over,” snarls Naruto, slipping into the way too an all too familiar pose.

"Give me your best shot,” challenges Mizuki.

"Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" 

In the danger zone on chakra levels has him capable of pulling off such a move. For most people this might of been suicidal. But, sensing the extreme danger her host is in has Kurama stirring to grant him permission to her chakra supply. In his frantic scrabbling to do this to latch onto and drag out enough of the demonic energy to create nine hundred and ninety nine clones. thus, making for a total of a thousand of him, having each one fully energized. Almost immediately this has Mizuki backpedaling when he sees all the Narutos suddenly appear, ending up tripping over a tree root; a look of panic on his face. 

"Well, what are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to wipe me out with one blow?" One of the Naruto’s asks him. "If you're not coming to us then we'll bring the fun to you.” 

As if on cue, all of the Narutos rush forwards, pummeling Mizuki from all sides. He’s sure to deal at the least one fatal blow to Mizuki. Although he disguises all blows that stand a chance of killing as complete accidents. Mizuki’s still breathing when Naruto finishes even thoughhe probably might be dead within a day. Due to how he has extreme internal bleeding and several vital organs are torn beyond human repair, unless of course someone almost as high a level as Tsunade is in the area can hope to save him from Shinigami’s grasp.

"Oops, guess I went a bit overboard," says Naruto sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

Iruka grins, “Hey Naruto, come over here. I have something I want to give to you."

A few minutes later, Iruka tells Naruto he can open his eyes. Naruto immediately sees that Iruka is holding his goggles, having no headband on. Blinking a few times in surprise, he thought this moment might happen later than now. Though at least he’s been Abel to save Iruka in time. 

"I thought that we can go out to get some ramen in order to celebrate your graduation.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of this chappie. I apologize for the wait about this. I’m still trying to get all of this done through the revision process. Though that’s getting a bit slowish at the moment with working on my other works including my books. Though I get around to working and updating fanfics soon enough. Hehes_ **

**_I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being written up. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for i. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	8. Flash

**_Hey y’all! Here’s the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. I thought this needs another update considering it’s been a long while from last this has been given some attention. There are many more chappies of this that still need to go through the revision process though._ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 8: Flash**

Sarutobi steppes out of his tower to address the concerning crowd that gathers, unable to locate Naruto, “Don’t worry. Naruto has been found. He'll be returning with the scroll shortly."

Various members of the crowd grumble, but they all soon split up to go their own ways. Sarutobi sighs, turning to walk all the way up the stairs. Heading back into his officee, he’s starting to feel as if he’s starting to get to old for this.

()()()()()

Sitting cross legged on one of the larger cushions in his living room, Naruto’s currently trying to contact Kurama. Sensing that she has been stirring has it all to no avail. Aggravation rises as he gives up for now.

_Damn it_ , he thought, unable to locate for than a shred of her power. 

Still, it’s progress considering he hasn’t been able to access this much when he first entered the current time line. Of course, he can always use the jutsu he’s learned from the scroll to wake her up. Although that naturally comes with risks. Sighing again, he stands up at knowing he needs to get ready for school. Today is the day they all will be put into squads, and not particularly wanting to be late. Knowing the fangirls will take the seat next to Sasuke as soon as possible springs a headache for him when thinking about it for too long. He really needs to hurry. With the thought of the limiting amount of seating right next to the raven haired male in his mind. Quickly, he gets dressed before he goes to go eat some food to replenish his strength.

“Okay, let's see what we've got,” he says out loud. "Cup ramen, spoiled milk, glob of green goop, cup ramen, dead rat, live roaches, cup ramen, and guess what... more cup ramen!" 

Audibly sighing, he grabs one of the many containers of store bought ramen, deciding to eat it cold instead of waiting for it to finish microwaving. Either way it tastes about the same. That’s disgusting due to how he rarely can afford for fresh produce. Of course he still loves the kind of ramen made in restaurants, but the kind others outside of there put in the microwave is so chock full of preservatives and artificial flavoring that it makes him want to barf. After gobbling down the extra small sized thing of ramen, he grabs his headband as he heads out the door, keeping his head down as he runs through the poor section of town. Deciding to take a shortcut through the red light district, instead of giving the drunken shinobi and bitchy whores a wide berth like he normally will. Dashing past the gambling houses, bars, and brothels as fast as he can, Naruto hurries to the Academy. Arriving within a minute, he slips inside to discover that he has come in after the vast majority of the class. Ino and Sakura are the only two to not have come in the room yet. Walking over, he sits a seat away from Sasuke, not wanting to draw attention to himself by sitting immediately next to the Uchiha. Five seconds later the two kunoichi enter the room. 

"I arrived first, Ino-pig!" Pouts Sakura.

"No, I did, forehead-girl,” glares Ino. 

The two of them soon stop arguing over who is first as they shift their attention to who gets to sit next to Sasuke. Though that raises a huge debate among the fangirls like usual. To him and majority of the rest here are well accustomed to this happening on almost a daily basis at this rate.

"Move over, moron. I get to sit next to Sasuke!"

()()()()()

In the Hokage's office, the various jounin watch the fangirls argue over who get to sit next to Sasuke as Naruto grows more and more annoyed. Any of them who dwell on the matter (one or two at the most) assumes that Naruto is annoyed because Sasuke is getting the all of attention of almost all of the girls here. 

"So, that's Uchiha Sasuke?" one of them ask, "The number one rookie of the year?"

Kakashi, unlike most of the jounin, isn’t thinking about Sasuke. His eyes are fixating upon the blonde. Comparing the image of Naruto to the mental picture he’s already built up, he thinks that he definitely reminds him of Minato fairly well.

_Naruto, eh? Huh, I suppose Minato-sensei will be proud to know he’s lasting this long._

()()()()()

Back in the classroom, Naruto has had enough of the fangirls' bickering. Suddenly, he jumps on the desk in front of Sasuke. Starting to glare at majority of those here in the room.

“Naruto, stop glaring at Sasuke,” sighs Sakura. 

This time around Naruto doesn’t even pay a lick of attention to her. Instead, he continues glaring at Sasuke. Somehow he actually manages to match the infamous Uchiha Glare full force, waiting for a random non-important person to push him into his crush. A few seconds later, Naruto gets precisely what he’s wishing for, being pushed into Sasuke, their lips meeting. Faking surprise, he inwardly smirks at knowing how jealous others might be.

Knowing that the others will beat him up pretty bad, but he thought it’s worth it to be able to kiss Sasuke. Anyway, it’s pretty fun seeing them all so pissed off. Speaking of... he can now sense extreme killer intent radiating off of the would-be brides of Sasuke. Gulping, he turns his head to begin stuttering out that it’s an accident. Still, he manages to get beat up pretty bad anyways. Iruka doesn’t manage to arrive until after the fangirls have turned Naruto's face into the equivalent of a tortured bowl of mashed potatoes. Apparently he doesn’t even notice Naruto's state as he begins explaining the whole teams of three thing. Everyone has their entire focus on Iruka during this, having it be a store of luck that nobody notices that all the bruises, scrapes, and cuts covering Naruto's face magically disappear. All the while Iruka drones off the first six team names to finally arrive at Team 7. 

"Next, Team 7. Uzumaki Naruto,” at this point Naruto looks up from his sulking, listening intently to the call of their sensei. 

"Haruno Sakura," at this point Sakura puts her head down and groaned while Naruto looks slightly miffed as his reaction surprises several jounin and Iruka, but they all figure his unenthusiastic reaction is because of the violent beating she just gave him. 

Speaking of... their train of thought is broken at this point by Iruka calling out Sasuke's name, causing Sakura to cheer. Naruto along with all of Sasuke's other fangirls to hang their heads. Iruka finishes up calling out the names without further major disturbance, telling the genin to wait for their jounin senseis to come pick them up. At that point Iruka high tails it, not wanting to be stuck in a room with a bunch of excitable kids longer than he has to. 

Hours pass by for one by one all of the teams are picked up by their jounin senseis. That is until only Teams 7 and 8 remain. The six remaining genin are all sitting off in a separate section. Kiba and Shino are sitting in random rows. Both are keeping their distance from the others. Hinata is huddling on the top row, trying not to be noticed. Sasuke is in the same seat he’s been in earlier, ignoring Sakura's blatant advances. Naruto has gotten up out of his seat, climbing towards the back row.

To the surprise of Team 8, Sakura is too busy being a rapid fangirl while Sasuke is too busy being an emo prick, to notice their surroundings) Sitting down right next to Hinata. Shino just shrugs as he goes back to watching the door, while Kiba laughs until he can’t breathe at how much Hinata is blushing. After watching the two and not seeing anything happening, he shifts his attention to the much more amusing show of Rabid Useless Fangirl vs. Egocentric Emo Avenger, Round Two.

Noticing that no one is paying attention to them, Naruto whispers to Hinata, “Hey, the last test we took isn’t the last one. There's another one to cut down on the number of genin who graduate each year coming right up."

"Wh-why are y-you t-telling m-me th-this?" she whispers back, having invented a whole new shade of red, trying hard not to faint because Naruto is talking to her.

"I think that you have a good chance of passing. I don't want you to be taken by surprise," he answers although Hinata almost does faint when Naruto compliments her, but reminds herself that doing such will make her look weaker while in actuality she is very strong.

"Th-thanks," stammers out the heiress.

Plastering on his fox grin, he’s being sure to keep his voice down as he also checks with a minute chakra web that the Sandaime Hokage is no longer watching the events of the classroom, “Don’t be hard on yourself just because you can't master the Byuuken, Hinata. It's really not your fighting style anyway. You need to try to learn something that incorporates for graceful moves or better yet you can make up your own style!" 

"Al-alright," stammers out Hinata, feeling a new sense of determination to take his advice to heart.

"If you ever need any help, find me. Alright?" Naruto asks her, saving her from having to reply or possibly fainting by the arrival of Yuuhi Kurenai. 

Stammering out a faint goodbye, she walks over to where her jounin sensei is standing. Naruto watches her go with amusement in his eyes. Although the kind, help everyone side of him scolds Naruto for embarrassing Hinata like that, the sadistic side of him actually enjoys watching her almost have a heart attack because her hero is actually talking to her. Luckily for the inhabitants of Konoha the sadistic side of him is very small. Most of the time it doesn’t hold much weight. Minutes drag into hours as Team 7 wait for their tardy sensei. Anticipating Kakashi’s lateness has brought along a scroll on politics among the human nations for Naruto to read. They’re both shinobi orientated and non shinobi orientated. Sasuke sits where he’s sat since arriving there that morning, wearing the exact same expression while in the exact same position he’s been in when Naruto entered the classroom. Sakura has yet to get bored with obsessing over Sasuke. Her endless tirade continues Half an hour later, Naruto starts fidgeting more than he has been, extremely bored with the scroll. Deciding that it must be around Kakashi's arrival time, he walks over to the door. Snickering, he settles an eraser in between the wall and the sliding door.

“Naruto, don’t do something so immature! We'll get in trouble!,” scolds Sakura when noticing him set up the prank.

"Heh, he deserves it, being late like this,” retorts Naruto, getting down off of the stool for mere seconds later to have Kakashi to walk in as the eraser drops onto his head.

_I can't believe he fell for that,_ thought Sasuke in mild interest.

"Ha, you fell for it, sensei,” says Naruto impishly.

"Hn, my first impression of you guys is... I hate you,” says the silver haired man, causing Sakura and Sasuke to sweatdrop at that point.

Naruto just shrugs as he says, “Well, at the least you have the decency to be honest."

“Meet me on the roof in five minutes."

()()()()()

“Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves?" Kakashi asks once they are all seated.

"What do you mean?" Asks Sakura in response.

"What you like, hate, your hobbies, and your dream. Also, tell me what your name explains Kakashi all the while reading his book that he holds in one hand, turning the page from time to time.

"Um, sensei, why don't you go first?" Asks Sakura, feeling a little nervous with how he acts around them.

"Alright... My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes. My dream is... I have a few hobbies," drawls out the jounin, finding it fun to play mind games at times with his students.

"That isn’t very useful," whispers the kunoichi to her teammates, who are coincidentally, completely ignoring her. “I mean all we learn about him is his name."

"Okay, you on the left, with the pink hair, go first,” says Kakashi, breaking her away from idle chitchat.

"My name is Haruno Sakura,” says the jade-eyed girl. "My likes are the person I like. My hobbies are unimportant for you guys to know. My dream is to become a strong kunoichi.” 

"Well, what do you hate?" Asks Kakashi with mild interest.

“Naruto,” is all Sakura says in response.

“Alright, you in the middle."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," he says in a dull monotone. "I don't like many things… I hate a lot of things. I don't have any hobbies. What I have is not a dream, for I will make it a reality. My ambition is the resurrection of my clan and kill a certain man."

“You on the left!"

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto,” the blonde tells them. “I like playing pranks, learning new jutsu, training to get stronger, and learning anything even remotely relevant to the current day. I dislike people who discriminate against others or judge them without knowing the full story first. I also dislike people who can't see past their own noses and are either obsessed with themselves or with someone else. I really hate snakes and spiders. My hobbies are learning new jutsu and training. I have a dream, a goal, and an ambition, although I only feel like telling you my goal, which is to become the most powerful ninja ever. I want to become the greatest of the Hokages!" 

Turning the page of his book, Kakashi asks him, “Well, do you mind telling us your dream and your ambition?"

"Yes, I mind," replies Naruto coldly. “They are my business. Once I feel that I can trust you then I might tell you. Until then, feel free to keep on guessing." 

Sakura snorts at how idiotic Naruto's statement is, while Sasuke just ignores the whole thing, although he does feel somewhat intrigued by the information that the blonde has an ambition. The way that he worded it; especially with Sasuke's introduction just a short while before, suggests the ambition being something that takes precedence over both the dream and goal. The fact that he denies telling them it suggests a closely guarded secret. Kakashi's eyes narrow ever so slightly at the suggestion that the blonde doesn’t trust his own team, before reminding himself that the boy's life hasn’t exactly been the kind that inspires automatic trust. He too is intrigued by Naruto's wording. The word dream suggests something that he wishes will happen, but thought is very unlikely or had slim chances. Therefore, he won’t dedicate himself towards its fulfillment until after he accomplishes both his goal and ambition. Arriving at the same conclusion about the ambition that Sasuke has in some sort, Kakashi brushes it aside, figuring he’ll have to keep a closer eye on the jinchurriki.

"Listen up! Tomorrow we'll have our first mission," tells Kakashi to the trio.

"What kind of mission Kakashi-sensei?" Asks Sakura curiously.

"Survival training," replies the jounin without an ounce of hestiation, turning to the next page, seeming not to think this is all too important.

"Huh? But, Kakashi-sensei, we already had survival training in the Academy,” complains Sakura.

"This isn't normal survival training. The purpose of this is to weed out the weaker shinobi. Only three teams each year are allowed to pass, so that only the stronger shinobi actually make it into the ranks,” says Kakashi to them to bring further clarity on the matter.

“Hn,” nods Sasuke, paying half-attention to what the sensei is saying to them. 

“Meet me at training ground 7 tomorrow morning at 5. Oh, yeah, don't eat breakfast. You might puke," warns Kakashi. 

Naruto doesn’t hear him though, because he’s busy trying to figure out what shapes the clouds are in the sky. Not noticing that the meeting is dismissed until the other three have already left, Naruto scrambles to his feet as he sets off in the direction of one of the most deserted training grounds, in order to try and wake up Kurama again. Sitting down in the middle of the most remote training ground in all of Konoha, he’s actually the only one who’s come here in the past ten years. Here is where he sleeps when the villagers are being particularly bastardish for the week surrounding his birthday. 

Gathering as much chakra as he safely can along with as much of her power he can access, he hopes this wil work. Being calm and having Kurama asleep, he starts firing off a series of seals, some of them are ones that haven’t been used in centuries. Shortly after, he finishes the hand signs to slash his palms open with a kunai, slamming his hands to the ground. The blood pours out into a red pool around his feet. The wounds refuse to even begin to heal as a side effect of the jutsu. Blue chakra laces thinly with some of the beast’s chakra picked up the blood as it starts spreading it in a pattern around him.

The main part of the seal consists of Kurama’s clan symbol, the nine lines all joining a perfect circle that surrounds that emblem. Her clan symbol is an upside down pentagon in the style to look like a fox's head with nine lines spiraling out from behind it. The circle sits in the middle of a rectangle, its proportions are that of the Golden Rectangle. Ancient runes are inscribed all throughout the design, forming twisting patterns. Hieroglyphics, run through with depictions of mythological creatures, also blanket the area.

Concentrating as hard as he possibly can, Naruto starts to chant in the language of the Ancients. He doesn’t quite understand what he is saying so instead has memorized the verse he’s found written in the scroll. The seal starts to glow a soft red color. All of the shades of red shift about within. The wind that blows fiercely as the ritual continues, rivaling the winds of a hurricane. As suddenly as the gale has begun, it ceases. Not long after it has the world to become still and silent as Naruto collapses, sinking into the very depths of his mind and soul.

Stirring, Kurama notices Something is tugging at her. She resists at first, trying to return to the peaceful bliss of dreamless sleep. It doesn’t work. Whatever is calling her is way too powerful to fight. Having to wake up, she returns to the world at last. The great demon fox has her eyelids fluttering a few times before she opens her eyes, beholding a high ceiling, it and all the walls are covered in leaking pipes. On the fourth wall are the steel bars of a jail or a cage. Shifting around, she looks out. The room before her is only slightly wider and taller than the cage door. It stretches back for a short distance, before hitting a wall with a single door in it. It remains empty all except for a puny human child, who’s just sitting there, staring up at her.

"Who dares interrupt my slumber?”

**_Oks, that’s the end of this chappie. I hope you all enjoyed. The next one will be out shortly whenever it’s finished being revised/written up. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	9. Roar

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. I hope you all are enjoying it so far. It’ll definitely be interesting as to how everything plays out from here on out. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 9: Roar**

"I so dare!" the blonde shouts back at her, but now that she looks closely at him has her realize that he resembles that blasted human who has had the nerve to seal her away.

"Come closer, brat," she snarls, finding it Interesting that this mortal doesn’t seem to be afraid of her, deciding that she will have to change that while he just stares up at her.

“Now, why am I suppose to do that? By the way, I have a name, you know. It's Uzumaki Naruto,” he tells her, one brow twitching as he thought she might know this already though isn’t sure what the time travel plus the sleep has done.

“Don’t back talk me! You're nothing more than a pathetic human. If it isn’t for this cage, I probably might rip you to shreds,” growls the kitsune.

"I beg to differ. I'm your jinchurriki after all. Thanks to that little seal there, I’m the one in control. Anyway, what's with the attitude?” Asks Naruto curiously, being somewhat patient with her.

Kurama is about to reply, but then she hesitates. Come to think of it, she can’t really remember what has happened. Her mind feels fuzzy with the only thing she can perceive is that she is angry, and wanted to kill something. But why? Shaking her head, she tries to get the cobwebs out of her brain.

"What's it to you, brat? Why the Hell have you woken me up?”inquires Kurama, guessing he’s the only one here that might give her some answers.

"I have something I need to do. It’s going to be hard to accomplish if you're being a complete and total bitch. I woke you up because at the moment we both have a few common enemies and goals. It’s also because I need your help,” explains Naruto in full detail, not skimping on any of it.

“What are you talking about?"

()()()()()

"Where's Kakashi-sensei and Naruto? They're late!" Complains Sakura considering how it’s currently four hours after their assigned meeting time while so far only she and Sasuke have shown up.

About fifteen minutes later, Naruto comes running up. Instead of his normal orange jumpsuit he’s clad in black pants with orange stripes running down the outside. He also has a black turtleneck jacket on. Thin orange stripes run horizontally across it. Seeing the two there causes a wash of relief to overcome him, glad that he arrives before their sensei does even though either way he thought this will go over fairly well. 

"Hey! Kakashi-sensei still isn't here yet?" he asks his two teammates.

"Naruto-baka! Where have you been? You're late,” fumes Sakura.

"Yo," interrupts Kakashi, poofing out of nowhere.

"You're late too! I can't believe you two! Both you and Naruto have been four hours late,” rages Sakura while Kakashi just shrugs as if this is normal.

"Hey, sensei, what's our test going to be?" Asks Naruto before Sakura can get any farther into her rant.

"The point of this test is to get one of these bells from me by noon,” says Kakashi, holding up two shiny silver bells. "Whoever fails to retrieve a bell will be tied to one of those logs. They won’t be able to eat lunch, and be sent back to the academy."

"Wait, then one of us is sure to fail,” pipes up Sakura in concern.

"Yes, you're right,” confirms Kakashi, not minding the questions they may have about this. “It doesn’t matter. On three the test will start. One... Two... Three... Go!"

Both Sakura and Sasuke dash off into the underbrush. Only Naruto remains in the open. It’s a risky move on his part, but he feels confident enough to go after Kakashi head on instead of appeasing him in a chase. Besides, he knows what to expect from the first time around having to go through with this. Doubting anything will be different, Naruto charges forward towards the jounin. 

"I'm going to get a bell from you and pass this stupid test!" Exclaims the blonde as he continues to charge at Kakashi.

Idly watching the two fight, Sasuke dwells on how stupid Naruto is being. When he heard someone tapping him on the shoulder, he turns his head to see Naruto for some reason. Wait, isn’t he fighting Kakashi? Putting his finger over his lips in a shushing motion, he signals Sasuke to follow him. The raven haired male narrows his eyes ever so slightly as he complies anyway.

When the two are a good distance away from Kakashi and Naruto, the blonde says, “I’ve got a plan, Sasuke, but it'll require us to work together."

"Hn. Why do I need to work with you, dobe? Anyway, how are you in two places at once?" Asks Sasuke, having doubts about this.

"Kage bunshin,” answers Naruto simply, causing Sasuke to express disbelief. 

"I'll show you. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,” in a poof of smoke an exact replica of Naruto appears which is definetely real. "As to why you need to work with me, why not? There are two bells after all. So, we can both pass. Kakashi-sensei’s a jounin. No way one of us is going to be able to beat him. If we work together though, then we might stand a chance. Also, I'll go Ahead to be the fall guy. That way you don't have to take to many risks. I'll take most of the hits. If we only get one bell you can have it."

Considering what Naruto says as he thinks that the dobe does have a good point, he responds, “Alright, what do you have in mind?" 

()()()()()

"Never let your opponent get behind you,” says Kakashi, poofing behind the Naruto clone, forming what looks like a tiger seal. "Sennin Goroshi!"

The Naruto clone is then sent flying, ending up to land in the water. Kakashi turns back to reading his book. Unbeknownst to him, Naruto and Sasuke are currently putting their diabolical plan into action. Suddenly, fifteen clones of Naruto come shooting out of the water to charge right at Kakashi.

_I have heard that he can create shadow clones,_ muses Kakashibefore turning to the barrage of Narutos.

"Now,” whispers Naruto to Sasuke when their sensei is being pinned by the clone that has appeared behind him. 

Sasuke nods, starting to gothrough the seals of the first fire jutsu he mastered. Being careful not to make any sound, he holds the chakra he creeps up to Kakashi before releasing the ball of flame at him. Kakashi, unable to move thanks to the clones pinning him, and having failed to prepare a counter attack thanks to the fact that he hasn’t been expecting Naruto and Sasuke to work together, is hit full force. When the smoke clears, none of the kage bunshins are left. There isn’t hide nor hair of Kakashi in sight. Sasuke's eyes widen, taking in this new information. A hand shoots up to pull him into the ground. Apparently the Kakashi he'd attacked had been a shadow clone too. The real Kakashi has been hiding underground. Sasuke curses as he’s yanked into the ground. Buired up to his neck, he knows that it might not have been a good idea to have trusted the dobe, let alone agreed to work with him!

_Now,_ Sakura thought, remembering the cue that her blonde haired teammate has told her about. 

()

“hey, Sakura-chan,” whispers Naruto, tapping his teammate on the shoulder, having her spin around to ask him what he’s doing. "Sorry, but Sasuke-teme tells me..."

"Go on, what has Sasuke told you?" Asks the kunoichi, interest perking up at the mention of the Uchiha.

"He says that the real purpose of this test is to see how well we work together. There are only two bells Kakashi has. In order to drive a wedge between us, and make us work independently, but if we all work together, then we will have a shot,” explains Naruto, hoping she’ll believe him, still whispering all of this so they won’t be caught.

"Naruto-baka, you do realize that one of us will still fail?" Asks Sakura in concern of it.

Understanding dawns on his face as he reassures her, “Don’t worry Sakura-chan. You can have my bell.” 

Sakura nods, still worrisome about this with the thought of him being left behind. While she does find him annoying it’s all a facade for how she really feels. With the plan in mind, she guesses this might just work.

“Ok, What’s the plan?"

()

Turning to the incoming bubblegum-haired kunoichi, Kakashi sighs in annoyance. He expects something like this from her. Why? Because like the rest to him in his eyes she also needs to work better. All three of the ones on the battlefield fail to notice Naruto sitting in the trees a little bit off. He’s currently directing the actions of a young red fox using mental nudges and images, simple body language, sound, and scent languages not being able to convey complex enough information. His intention is that, in the confusion of things, Kakashi isn’t going to notice the fox sneaking up to him. Seeing that he’s right, he sees the fox goes unnoticed up until when it has actually grabbed the bells in its mouth. It’s able to do this because Kakashi is currently resting on his ankles, switching between lecturing Sasuke and poking Sakura to see if she’s even still alive let alone okay, after she faints from the genjutsu he casts on her. In reality, she hasn’t fainted, but pretended to, because she knows about the likelihood of getting caught in a genjutsu along with what to do from what Naruto has told her, feeling tempted to jump up to hit her sensei as he pokes her again. 

When Kakashi and Sasuke hear the jingle of the bells being disturbed, their attention is drawn to Kakashi's belt where a guilty looking fox is standing on its hind legs about to snap the string the bells are attached to. Before Kakashi can hope to recover from his shock at such an unlikely event has the fox yanking the bells off of his belt to dash off into the woods. Soon after, Kakashi goes to follow it. When he’s sure that Kakashi is gone, Naruto jumps down to where his two teammates are, starting to help Sasuke out of the hole. Sakura also stops faking to stand up. As soon as Sasuke has gotten up has the three hearing the bell ring.

"Time's up,” calls out Kakashi, poofing in front of his team although he feels slightly surprised that Sakura has woken up so fast including how Sasuke's speed in getting out of the hole, but he doesn’t show any of it.

Grinning, Naruto pulls out the two bells as he decalres, “Looks like we pass, sensei!" 

"You forgot something, Naruto. Only two of you can pass,” reminds Kakashi to the blonde. His grin only widens at that though.

"Hey, Naruto, didn't you say that you'd give your bell to me?" Sakura asks, reminding Naruto of his promise.

“When did he say that?" Sasuke asks, trying to figure out what the hell is happening considering Sakura’s involvement hasn’t been in the original plan from what he knows of it.

"After he told me about your plan, Sasuke-kun,” explains the kunoichi, causing Sasuke to become immensely hit by confusion by this except he doesn’t show it of course.

"Heh, you're probably wondering what she’s talking about, teme," says Naruto for it now to be Sakura's turn to be confused. "I kind of told her that you came up with the plan since I knew she wouldn't listen to anything I had to say. She’d jump at the chance to help you."

"Huh? What?" Pipes up Sakura. 

"He means I didn't make the plan, Sakura. It was his idea,” Sasuke informs her, annoyance creeping into his tone. "I didn't even know that he was involving you. The plan he told me only involved him and me."

Kakashi's visible eye arches slightly. From the sounds of it, Naruto has tricked his two teammates into working together, telling each of them what they wanted to hear in order to convince them to help, “What did he tell you, Sasuke?"

"He pointed out that since there are two bells, that two of us can pass. The plan he told me has him being the fall guy in every way possible. He was intended to be the distraction for me to give me an edge over you. He said that if we only got one bell that he'd let me have it since it’s his idea. I didn't know about how he'd planned for Kakashi to drag me into the ground or for Sakura to rush out, further distracting him while he picks his pocket,” explains Sasuke to him in his usual monotone voice with no edge to it nor allowing any emotion to trickle in.

"Well, it seems like Naruto managed to trick you both. Although, that still doesn't remedy the situation of there only being two bells," points out Kakashi.

Naruto’s grin doesn’t falter, "But, Kakashi-sensei, isn’t the intention of all of this to test our ability to work as a team despite the fact that one of us is sure to fail? Isn’t the whole two bells and three genin thing to divide our ranks and make us fight each other?" 

Kakashi's eye widens, wondering how has the so-called dead last seen through his plan so efficiently as Naruto adds, “Anyway, even if my assumptions are incorrect, I still know a way for all three of us to pass." 

His two teammates and sensei are all confused for a second, before Naruto forms the ever familiar seal to call out,"Kage Koumoku no Jutsu!" 

This causes a third bell to poof into existence in his hand. He then randomly mixes the three up out of sight. That way it’s impossible to tell between them, handing one to his slack-jawed female teammate and one to his scowling male teammate. Though still this leaves Kakashi in puzzlement of how Naruto manages all of this. It seems that he’ll need to rethink about the jinchurriki, taking as a side note in his mind that he definitely does remind him heavily of how Minato always was so quick on his feet to solve any situation that came his way.

"Where the hell did you learn that?" Kakashi asks. 

To say he’s surprised is an extreme understatement. He’s never even heard of that jutsu. The closest thing to it is the Kage Shuriken no Jutsu, which has quite different results. Thus, means that either the blonde has learned an extremely little known technique, or that he creates it himself. Either way, the Silver Fang is indeed impressed with what he sees here in how his teammates act when facing an enemy.

"I made it up myself. It’s a variation on the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Instead of forming a clone of the user it creates a clone of something the user's holding. I figure that if the principle of solid clones can be applied to living organisms and shuriken, why not to a whole assortment of items?" Explains Naruto nonchalantly as if they’re having a normal conversation. 

Sighing, Kakashi guesses that apparently there is a lot more to this kid than meets the eye. It actually worries him a little. If the blonde is hiding such intelligence so artfully and has been able to act well enough to fool themso completely, then who knows what else he’s hiding. Kakashi then resolves to keep a much closer eye on the jinchurriki even though he’s already come to this conclusion earlier.

"Alright, you three all pass! You seem to all understand the principle of working together in order to combine your strength. Therefore, you’re able to make yourselves much more powerful than you normally will be. Meet me on the bridge tomorrow at five for our first real mission,” says Kakashi before he poofs away in a cloud of smoke, heading to make his report at the Hokage's Tower.

Turning to his two teammates, he says, “If I were you two, I'd take this chance to sleep in. He's probably going to show up at the least three hours late again." 

Inwardly, the Uchiha nods at this. From what he’s seen their sensei is chronically tardy. Why not take advantage of that while they have the chance? Sakura, meanwhile, is thinking of how much of an idiot Naruto is. Of course they have to show up on time! The three then part their separate ways to go where ever they head towards when they have nothing better to do with their time.

Sighing to himself, Naruto wanders off in order to figure out what effects the altered seal will have. One of the nasty side effects of the jutsu he uses is that it changes the seal. The runes and hieroglyphics must of changed it into exactly what Naruto intends, but he’s not entirely sure that he’s gotten everything correct. Anyway, no matter how troublesome figuring out the new seal is, he’s much better off safe than sorry. It probably will help his nerves if he’s fluent in the language used.

_I guess I’ll get the hang of it from Kurama. Part of our deal is that she trains me in the ways of her kin. The other part is ensuring I keep to the task of rewriting the timeline. Let’s just hope to Kami I don’t screw up anything._

**_Oks, that’s the end of this chappie. It seems y’all get a double update today. It’s just because I got the next one done through the revision process. There’s still many more chappies of this left to revise. So, in short, this is definitely quite a longfic. It’s also the only SasuNaru story I’m working on right now. I might see about working on Crimson Tears at some point, but I don’t know about it. I prefer working on KakaNaru mostly to be honest._ **

**_Anyway, enough of me blathering on for now. I hope you all enjoyed what’s gone down this time. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised/written up. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	10. Dash

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Damn, there’s still so much left to revise of this, but it’s fun to do it so far for this. I plan to update my other stories shortly whenever I have chappies finished being written up for them. So, we’ll see how it goes. I get around to updates shortly though. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 10: Dash**

"Hokage-sama," Naruto's voice rings out, causing the Sandaime to glance up in concern due to how he looks so serious about something.

“What is it Naruto?" he asks the blonde.

“I’m wondering if next time my team comes in for a mission that we can receive a C-rank."

The elderly man sighs, puffing on his pipe before he replies to the genin, "I know that you're probably bored with the D-rank mission, but they are a necessary part of our economy. The clients come in with requests for all sorts of missions ranging from baby-sitting to assassinations. These missions are sorted by difficulty and the client pas us a certain fee based on the rank. Genin such as you do D-rank missions, focusing mainly on improving your skills and teamwork outside of battle."

"I know that, jiji, but don't you think that a real life situation will better help improve how we cooperate? My team is divided by several things…. Just trying to befriend each other isn't going to do anything. The only way I can see us putting aside our differences and working together is if we're forced to rely on each other in a real fight even a low-level one,” argues the far younger male with his tone conveying complete seriousness.

Sarutobi nods, considering what he has to say to him thus far. The blonde has a point. Once again he wonders if there’s more to the boy than met the eye. He’s been troubled by Kakashi's report of the boy's intelligence including the fact that he apparently has been holding back. What’s even more troubling is the information of Mizuki's death. Normally, he might of attributed the mortal blow to an accident caused by an oblivious genin in the heat of battle, but now he can’t help to wonder. What if Naruto has killed Mizuki on purpose. Perhaps he covered his tracks by making it look accidental? Shaking his head at the notion, he thought that surely even when angry has Naruto not capable of killing a person purposefully.

“You have a good point, Naruto," he appraises the blonde, "If your teammates agree to being given a higher ranked mission then I'm sure that I have one fit for genin." 

Nodding, he grins as he runs out the window with a shout of, "Thanks, jiji!" 

The Hokage sighs as he dwells on the other purpose of him giving Naruto the mission. A real life situation with real life battle will be the perfect testing ground for Naruto's prowess. He then begins sorting through the C-rank missions, trying to find something that can be suitable to accomplish by a rookie genin team.

()()()()()

"Thank you so much for returning my precious Tora-chan to me,” the old lady squeals, being the third time since they'd graduated that they'd been assigned that mission although seeing as how this is their seventh mission, that is saying something.

_Heh heh, serves that damn cat right!_ Cackles Kurama in Naruto's mind even though her behavior has become slightly more civilized than it has been in the original timeline after the same amount of time has passed although she’s still a sadistic, bloodthirsty vixen, causing Naruto to feel weird when thinking of how she’s so different from his memories of shortly before he’s died though truly deserves the title of nee-chan, for although she’s still rough on him has her actually helping Naruto to take his feelings into consideration yet he can’t help to agree.

_Explains why she runs away so damn much. I probably might high-tail it too if I were her_ , comments Naruto, watching the lady practically strangle her cat.

"Alright then. For your next mission you can choose between helping the Fire Daimyo's wife with her shopping, weeding a garden, baby-sitting,” the Hokage begins, only to to receive an interjection from the blonde himself. 

He, of course, has every intention of giving the team a C-rank, but it might look suspicious if he decides to do so right off the bat. He just hopes that Naruto will pick up on his charade.

"No! I am sick and tired of these stupid D-rank missions,” says Naruto to have Iruka to scold at him, telling him to be more respectful to his elders.

"Naruto, you and your team are only rookie genins," begins Sarutobi, glad that Naruto picks up on the act, playing his part so well even though his ability to detect the charade only adds to the mystery of him.

Interrupting again, Naruto bursts out, “But jiji, these missions are way too simple! They can easily be done by Academy Students! Also, our teamwork and personal skills are never going to improve if all we do is mow lawns and chase cats."

Before anyone can say anything else, Sasuke interjects, “He has a point, you know." 

Sakura originally been thinking that she’s fine with D-ranked missions, seeing as how anything higher level might be way harder and put her life in danger. Her fan-girl self overrides her cautious self though as she immediately begins agreeing with Sasuke.

Sarutobi nods, “Alright, if the three of you are so eager, we do have one C-rank mission befit of genin." 

The three members of team seven immediately perk up, focusing their attention on the Hokage. Naruto’s mentally crossing his fingers that they’ll get the right one. 

"Your job is to escort the client to Wave Country, providing standard protection from bandits. Bring in the client!" Calls out the Hokage.

The door is then opening up by a drunken old man, leaning against the frame for support, “These brats are the ones guarding me? You don't expect me to believe that they are actually ninja; especially the short one with the stupid look on his face."

Everyone on Team 7 instantly know who he’s talking to, bracing themselves for the upcoming outburst. But Naruto, contrary to expectations, remains perfectly calm as he responds with, “If I were you, I won’t judge a shinobi based on age or looks. There are ninja half my age that can inspire terror in the heart of a hardened killer… In the shinobi world appearances are never to be held as if true,” 

Tazuna snorts, “Gaki, my name is Tazuna! The great bridge builder of the Wave! You'll do well to respect me…. As my bodyguards I expect you to give me superb protection.” 

"Respect a drunken old man who doesn't have the sense to not go around insulting people who can easily kill him? Ya, right,” glares Naruto, causing Tazuna to just scowl.

"Meet at the gates in two hours," says Kakashi to his team before the fight can get out of control. “Be on time."

The three members of Team 7 all nod, hading off, while Tazuna merely grunt as he walks away. Naruto is sitting on a rooftop nearby the gates. He can see his two teammates and their client gathering there, waiting for him and his chronically tardy sensei. Crossing his fingers in the ever familiar ram seal, he summons ten shadow clones. What he plans is his strategy ahead of time, so they all know what to do without being given all the details later as Two of them will scout ahead, making sure that nothing is changed. Six will head to Gatou's hideout, mapping out the area to take note of the strengths and weaknesses of his bodyguards. Two of these six will work to find out about and replace Gatou's personal bodyguards. They will disguise themselves as the samurai using the Kitsune technique known as Henshin no Jutsu. The remaining two will stay in Konoha, disguising themselves while looking through the village's standards on accepting foreign ninja into its ranks. Sighing, he eventually gets up to head over to join his team, naturally preferring to deal with the problems as they come along, making something up on the spot, but such a move will be risky. besides, he doubts that he can get away with traveling back in time again if he fails to save anyone.

"Alright, let's go,” says Kakashi, poofing in next to his team.

"You're late,” both Naruto and Sakura say to him when he eventually arrives at last.

"A black cat crossed my path so I had to go around Konoha in order to avoid years of bad luck,” is his excuse for this time though they’re kind of used to them at this point even so early in the game.

“That actually might be a good excuse if you are in fact superstitious, Kakashi-sensei," points out Naruto, being serious again. "Nice try, though."

Sasuke inwardly blinks at Naruto's sudden mood swing from quiet and thoughtful, to loud, stupid, and obnoxious then to serious and intelligent. By now he isn’t too surprised by the Jinchuuriki's antics like he has been originally when he thought of Naruto as someone who’s always an idiotic annoyance. It’s actually kind of cute how he’ll be acting all serious then stop paying attention to do something stupid. Wait, has he seriously just thought that? He must be coming down with something…

"Let’s go!" Shouts out Naruto, cutting off Kakashi's reply although it proves to be a perfect example of when the blonde will forget he’s a ninja and act like a little kid.

"What are you so excited about?" Sakura asks, a little annoyed by his energy sometimes.

"This is our first chance for an actual real fight! Even though it’s against bandits," explains Naruto, noticing Kakashi shakes his head at the blonde’s eagerness to fight, probably able to get killed with that kind of attitude.

"Calm down everyone, and fall into traveling formation. Sasuke, you will take the front with Naruto right behind you. Tazuna, you will be in the middle. Sakura will follow you. I’ll bring up the rear," announces Kakashi to the group.

“Hai.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie ten. It’s a tad bit short, but that’s alrighty I think. The next one will be longer of course for y’all lovely readers. I’m glad to see people seem to be enjoying it thus far._ **

**_Anyway, the next chappie will be out shortly whenever it’s finished being revised/written up. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	11. Whirlwind

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Hopefully this progression is sufficient enough for y’all. I think it’s going well so far. It’ll be fun for y’all to see what happens this time. Hehes_ **

**_I hope you all enjoy. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 11: Whirlwind**

The next day, after they have been walking for a few hours along the dry, dusty road, they come upon a puddle. Now, normally, a puddle isn’t that much to comment on, but for an observant Kakashi it’s the sign of an enemy being present. Thus, it provides the perfect source of entertainment for a certain very bored genin.

_Splash_! 

The tense silence is broken as Naruto noisily rushes the puddle, jumping in, both feet landing at the same time. effectively, he scatters the collected water, hearing a faint groan of complaint although he might have been imagining things.

“Naruto-baka, what’s that for?" Sakura fumes, angry that Naruto has been so spontaneous on a serious mission.

"Sakura-chan, but I’m bored, and with the recent drought, there aren't hardly any puddles to jump in! Such a large one is just begging to be splashed all over the place,” explains Naruto with a pout. 

Sasuke's eyes widen at the sudden revelation. Of course such a large puddle in the middle of a drought is out of place! He needs to be on his guard. Naturally, the whole situation goes over Sakura's head as she just berates Naruto for being immature. Kakashi is starting to feel annoyed by the bubblegum-haired girl's ignorance, along with the audacity of her to call her teammate a moron when she’s being a complete idiot. He also can’t help to wonder if the blonde has called attention to the puddle's presence on purpose, in order to alert his team to the danger. They continue walking in the same formation they have been earlier, when suddenly two chains wrap themselves around Kakashi from behind to cut him into bits.

"One down, three to go,” a gruff voice says through the growing mist that all of a sudden rolls in. 

Sakura is obviously terrified, while Sasuke is acting calm. Naruto is also showing fear, although if one looks closely they might notice something off. Maybe it’s how little his pupils have dilated or the confident undertone to his stance, which by all means convey petrifying fear.

"You're the little brat that stepped on me,” one of them hisses as he swipes at Naruto with his claws, but he realizes his mistake when the blonde smirks only to be replaced by a log. ‘Substitution.

Without a word, Naruto appears behind the missing-nin, aiming a kick at his head. The younger of the demon Brothers try to dodge, but because he has been in mid-air he’s only able to move slightly. Naruto’s foot grazes his head, throwing him off track. When he rights himself. The two opponents hook their chains to begin charging at Naruto. They hear a slight whoosh as a shuriken hits their chain in the center, pinning it to a tree. Before they can yank their weapon away from the tree, Naruto throws a kunai, pinning the shuriken to ruin their hopes of getting the upper hand.

Scowling, the two of them unlink their gauntlets from the connecting chain. The elder then charges Tazuna while the younger goes after Sasuke. Sakura jumps in front of Tazuna, a kunai held in a ready position, intent on protecting their client. Sasuke shifts his stance, charging upwards in an attempt to get behind his opponent. No such luck is given to him. Meizu (the younger demon brother) just pivots as he swipes at him, causing the Uchiha to be unable to dodge. Before a hit can land. Though, Naruto tackles Meizu, making his attack go off course, missing Sasuke completely.

Meizu throws Naruto off, dividing his attention between the two genins. Before he has time to react, Naruto has shadow cloned, surrounding him. Meizu jumps up, landing outside the ring of Narutos, only to be given a kick in the head by Sasuke. While he’s still feeling dizzy, several of the clones appear under him, kicking upwards for another to jump in the air to punch him in the gut. The final Naruto clone is several yards away. At this point he lets loose a barrage of kunai and shuriken. Several imbeds themselves into the missing-nin. While this is going on Kakashi intercepts Gozu's attack, knocking him out, proceeding to knock out Meizu, congratulating his students on a job well done.

Afterwards, he ties up the two, Kakashi turns to Tazuna, “Do you care to explain why two B-ranked missing-nins from Kirigakure are trying to kill you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Tazuna exclaims, unnerved that the jounin has caught on so fast.

"Tazuna-san, they are targeting you specifically, meaning that they are hired to take you out. Their actions aren't just shinobi attacking shinobi. Isn't that why you choose to wait on the sidelines, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asks, causing the jounin to be evidently taken aback by the blonde's insight. "Anyway, knowing Gatou he doesn’t want anyone to build a bridge to the mainland, thereby providing another trade route other than shipping which he has a monopoly over. He also is likely to hire high level ninja, such as chunin and jounin, to do his dirty work."

"Naruto, do you mean to say you've known all along that this mission is at a higher level than a C-rank?" Asks Kakashi, his visible eye narrowing. 

"Yup! Oh, before you ask me why the hell I might do something like that, it's because I'm bored and really want a good fight. I'm confident that we can win,” answers Naruto, grinning at him to put at ease any worries.

"Well, this mission is too high of a level for genin. We'll have to go back,” begins Kakashi to say, only to once again be given an interruption by Naruto.

"No! I'm going to continue… I’m going to protect Tazuna-san! I commit to this mission, and never go back on my word,” says Naruto subbornly. “If we quit now, Tazuna will be slain. The Wave’s last hope will die with him.” 

"You have a point. Sasuke, Sakura, do the two of you also want to continue?" Asks their sensei warily.

“Hai,” answers Sasuke while the kunoichi has been considering backing down, but then the thought crosses her mind that Sasuke might like her less if she goes against his wishes, causing her to also quickly add in her consent.

"Well, I am a jounin…. The mission can’t be that hard… I guess we'll have to continue,” shrugs kakashi, causing Sasuke to smirk in reply as Naruto jumps up and down excitedly. 

The four shinobi and one civilian go to the dock without further mishap, crossing the section of ocean that divides the Wave from the mainland quietly and quickly. Tazuna thanks the rower when they arrive at last, knowing how much of a risk he’s taking in transporting them. When they enter the forest where they'd previously been attacked, Naruto tenses, eyes scanning the foliage carefully. Kakashi doesn’t fail to notice this, wondering what has the blonde so on edge. After walking for a few minutes, Naruto suddenly throws a kunai into the bushes. Sakura yelps while Naruto ducks into where he’s thrown the knife. Coming out a few seconds later with a dazed white rabbit in his arms, he smiles sheepishly at the false alarm.

"Naruto! Don't scare me like that!" Scolds Sakura. “Look what you did to that poor bunny!"

"First of all, Sakura, you are a ninja…. Therefore, you can’t be scared by something as simple as your teammate throwing a kunai,” comments Naruto nonchalantly, causing Sakura to blush a crimson red at his words. “Second of all, this is a snow rabbit. They’re only white in the winter. While it's currently the summer. That means that this rabbit has been kept in captivity, either being someone's pet or being intended for a substitution jutsu."

Once again, Kakashi is surprised at how smart the jinchurriki is being, but then again he’s starting to get used to surprises like this. There is definitely more to Naruto than what meets the eye. Sakura just looks confused, while Sasuke remains wary. If the rabbit is indeed used for substitution, then that means an enemy is nearby. Sakura merely can’t figure out how Naruto deduces such a thing. So, she decides that it’s all a bunch of idiocy. Therefore, the kunoichi thought he’s being incorrect about this. 

“Naruto-baka,” she begins only to be interrupted by both Naruto and Kakashi shouting "Duck!"

Pulling Tazuna down to the ground, Kakashi glances over to see Naruto tackling Sakura, removing her from harms way. Sasuke is able to react fast enough to dodge the blade that comes spinning through where his midsection might of been. The five travelers look up to see a zanbato that embeds itself in the trunk of a large tree, a well muscled man stands on the hilt, turning his head slightly to look back at the group.

_I see,_ Kakashi thought to himself, gauging the situation with unease though knows he can handle this. _If he is to be our opponent, I'll need this._

Grabbing the edge of his headband, he lifts it up until it rests on his forehead, revealing his sharingan. It’s not a method he particularly likes to ue. Though when situations call for it is when he’ll rely on the gift he’s been given from a long time ago.

"So, you are the famous copy ninja of Konoha,eh?” Zabuza asks, bristling in anticipation for the battle to shortly come, knowing the mist will become thicker soon.

Sasuke starts at the information. 'He has the sharingan? But how? Only certain members of the Uchiha clan can ever hope to develop the sharingan. Does that mean that he's…?'

"Sharingan? What's that?" Sakura asks.

"A powerful doujutsu, unique to the Uchiha clan. It allows the user to see through genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu,” answers Sasuke, not minding in sharing such information as it’s well known.

"It's also one of the three Densetsu no Gengan," adds Naruto. 

This causes Sasuke to tense suddenly. How does the dobe know about the Densetsu no Gengan, and the sharingan's status as one of the three? Haku, who is watching from the sidelines, is surprised that the sharingan is such a powerful doujutsu. He’s heard about the Densetsu no Gengan before, and how immensely powerful they are. Not only that, but supposedly the three kekkei genkai are all either unique to demon clans or found in human clans that can trace their lineage back to a particularly strong demon that has the kekkei genkai within the last century or two. Everyone else is just lost in the sea of confusion.

"What's a 'Densetsu no Gengan?'" Sakura is yet again the one to ask, voicing confusion that’s being shared by everyone.

"It refers to a specific type of kekkei genkai that deals with the eyes. Normally kekkei genkai aren't sorted all that much, if at all. The main categories are kekkei genkai that deal with elements, kekkei genkai that deal with the eyes, kekkei genkai that affect either the body or the mind, and miscellaneous kekkei genkai. As the name suggests, Densetsu no Gengan are eye kekkei genkai that, in their ultimate form, allow the user to utilize a high powered genjutsu,” explains Naruto. "I think that there used to be more than three, but the others have all died out by now."

Inwardly, Kakashi nods at this. He already knows that the sharingan at its best allows the user to cast ‘Tsukiyomi’. The fact that someone will make specific note of bloodlines with such capabilities makes sense. Zabuza just shrugs. So maybe the sharingan has a fancy addition at its most powerful. Kakashi still has yet to come close to fully mastering the famous doujutsu of the Uchiha clan.

"That isn't all the sharingan does, brat," Zabuza says, guessing he can spare a little time even though e might not want to. "It also allows the user to analyze the opponent's moves, speeding up reaction time and allowing for the copying of jutsu. It is said that the Copy Ninja had copied over a thousand jutsu with that eye of his." 

Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna are all clearly surprised at the information. Naruto tenses, knowing that the fight is surely about to start. Kakashi just starts copying the water clones jutsu, preparing to not only fight Zabuza but also to protect his team and client. Sasuke can begin to feel the killer intent rolling off of the two jounin in waves. Beginning to shake, his thoughts descend into panic. 

Naruto, his nose sharpening by Kurama, can smell the fear scent tainting his smell, rushing to reassure him, “Don’t be scared, Sasuke. I'm sure that Kakashi-sensei will protect us! If he can’t then I'll just beat this Zabuza guy to a pulp.” 

Shaken out of his thoughts, and slightly angered at himself for his cowardice, he says, “Oh, yeah? Like a dobe like you can even hope to do anything.” 

Kakashi inwardly smiles at Naruto's strategy for cheering up his team, as Sakura shakes off her fear to scold Naruto for being overconfident. Instead of giving into fear, he gives his team something to focus on rather than their impending doom.

"Naruto's right. There's no need to worry. I won't let my comrades die. I'll protect you three with my life,” he says as the two genin calm down immensely due to being given reassurance by their sensei's confidence.

The mist begins to finally thicken as Zabuza initiates his jutsu. Until the genin can barely be able to see their hands if they stretch their arms out in front of them, causing Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna to all remain tense as they hear the voice of Zabuza float out of the mist, seeming to come from all directions. 

"Eight choices…. Liver, lungs, spine, jugular vein, carotid artery, brain, kidneys, and heart…. Now, which critical hit will I go after?”

**_Oks, that’s the end of this chappie. I know it’s a tad bit short perhaps, but that’s perfectly alright. I have to build up the hype of course. I hope you all enjoyed. The next one will be out whenever I have it finished being revised. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	12. Shockwave

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Hopefully y’all are enjoying it so far. If not, then oh well, at least I tried I suppose. Hehes_ **

**_I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 12: Shockwave**

"You forgot the femoral artery and Achilles tendon," comments the jinchurriki, diffusing the aura of doom that Zabuza has built up. "If the femoral artery if cut causes excessive bleeding to occur to swiftly kill the victim. If the Achilles tendon is cut you're pretty much screwed in a fight."

Without further adieu, Zabuza jumps to land in the middle of the defense formation Team 7 is in, preparing to sever the four in half, only to be blocked by Kakashi, “You bark too much for your own good, kid.” 

The three genin and one civilian immediately jump away from the two jounin, giving them room to fight. Water leaks out of the wound Kakashi has made in Zabuza's stomach before said missing-nin suddenly turns into a puddle of water. He reappears behind Kakashi, swinging his sword. The legendary Copy Ninja doesn’t have time to dodge, being cut in half.

"Sensei!" Sakura screams out in alarm. Suddenly, the blood and flesh turns to water, making her feel like a fool.

"So, you already have copied my jutsu by the time you make your little speech," says Zabuza, seeing Kakashi materializing behind him as a kunai presses at his throat.

"Give up. It's over," Kakashi says, playing the part of the ultra-cool jounin while Zabuza merely smirks at him.

"Oh really?" Asks the enemy, doubting he really thinks it’s going to be that easy of a victory. 

Kakashi's visible eye widens as he slits the water clone's throat, spinning to defend against the opponent which has appeared behind him. He isn’t fast enough though. Managing to kick him into the water pleases him greatly.

_Good thing I’m able to escape into the lake,_ Kakashi thought. _Hey wait, there's something wrong. This water's unusually dense…_

He starts when a voice calls out, “Suirou no Jutsu!"

Mentally slapping himself on the forehead, Kakashi thought, _Oh, right, he's a water ninja…_

"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu,” calls out Zabuza, forming a clone of himself in front of the three genin.

"You three! Run! You can't hope to beat Zabuza! He's using all of his power to hold me and his water clone can't go far from his body! Take the bridge builder and get the hell out of here before he kills you! Stay on mission!" Kakashi yells at his team.

_Sorry sensei, no can do,_ Sasuke thought, “If we run then he'll just hunt us down to kill us later. Running stops being an option the moment you get caught.'

Without warning, Sasuke charges right at Zabuza, jumping into the air. The water clone easily blocks his attack to send him flying onto the ground. Stepping on the Uchiha’s chest, he applies pressure so as to slowly crack the ribs located under his foot. Sasuke let out a scream of pain as he feels his ribs begin to give under the pressure.

"Leave Sasuke alone, you bastard,” growls Naruto, charging the clone without a moment of hesitation. 

The clone only smirks as he sends Naruto flying back along with Sasuke with him, “Pathetic. The three of you have forehead protectors as if you're ninja. But the word ninja refers to someone who has gone through numerous life and death situations. In other words, you may be able to call yourself a ninja when you become so deadly that your profile appears in my bingo book. When you hover on the line between life and death so many time that it ceases to faze you, then you may earn the title ninja. But to call upstarts like you ninja… Is a joke!" 

The Zabuza clone forms a hand seal as he disappears again, only to reappear when he kicks Naruto in the stomach, sending the blonde genin flying with his headband flying off. The Zabuza clone smirks again as he steps on the metal plate.

"You need to listen to your sensei," says Zabuza, wondering why these genin are being so stubborn asi f they’re hoping for a death sentence today. "There's no way a bunch of brats like you can ever hope to beat someone like me.” 

“That’s what you think,” glares Naruto, charging the clone as he’s once again sent flying back, but this time his efforts are not in vain. 

What he manages is to recover his headband,before he then proceeds to speak, "Hey, freak with no eyebrows, put this in your bingo book!" 

“What is that?” Asks Zabuza, guessing he can appease him.

Naruto then begins tying his headband onto his forehead, looking up determinedly, “The future Hokage, he never gives up or backs down on his word! His name's Uzumaki Naruto!"

Sasuke smirks a little at his speech. It’s something typical of the him to do like that. Sakura merely shakes her head at Naruto's foolishness. Kakashi cracks a small smile, knowing how Minato might be if he were around to hear him say those words.

"Alright guys! Let's go wild,” announces Naruto. Grinning as he forms the ram seal to shout. “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!' 

Over fifty clones poof in around the missing-nin. All of them draw their kunai and shurriken.

Looking around, Zabuza says as if unimpressed, “Shadow clones. Impressive. But still not enough.” 

"I'll make you eat your words,” one of the clones shouts as on some unknown signal all of them charge except their actions are to no avail.

The Zabuza clone quickly throws them off, popping many to send the real Naruto skidding. The only remaining blonde then pulls a fuuma shuriken out of his pack to throw it to Sasuke. Catching the large weapon, Sasuke recognizes the faint chakra signature coming off it.

_So that’s your plan,_ he thought. Jumping in the air as he throws his own shuriken along with the one Naruto has passed him for both to go around the clone.

Zabuza manages to catch the first one, jumping over the second. He feels quite confident in his ability, but then the sight of the Uchiha smirking throws him off balance to make him replay the previous scene. Before he can arrive to any conclusions that might explain the expression on the usually stoic male’s face, the shuriken that has been tossed behind him disappears in a poof of smoke to reveal Naruto. The trickster throws a barrage of kunai at the real Zabuza, forcing him to leap away from Kakashi to release the prison of water.

"You brat,” growls out Zabuza, preparing to swing the fuuma shuriken at Naruto, only to be blocked by Kakashi instead.

"Your fight's with me," the jounin states, glaring daggers at him to even dare harming his comrades. 

He straightens on the water, leaping away from Zabuza. Scowling, the Demon of the Mist begins gathering chakra for his attack. Taking advantage of the fact that the two are currently distracted, Naruto quietly swims to the shore to crawl out. His two teammates, and Tazuna all watch intently as the two high level jounin battle until finally Kakashi, using his sharingan, is able to gain the upper hand, overpowering Zabuza's waterfall jutsu, sending the missing-nin barreling back into the woods to be pinned against a tree. Throwing two kunai at him, Kakashi prepares to finish off Zabuza.

"C-Can you see the future?" Zabuza asks, scared of how Kakashi has been able to predict everything from the jutsu he’s going to use to the words he’s going to say.

"Yes," answers Kakashi firmly. “And your future… Is death!"

Before the jounin can land a finishing blow, though, two senbon impale Zabuza in the side of the neck, seeming to kill him. Suddenly, a hunter-nin appears on one of the tree branches. He has been so close to finishing him off too. Though it doesn’t bother him if he’s not the one to send him to the final burial ground.

"Who are you?" Sakura shouts in challenge.

"I am a hunter-nin from Kirigakure. I’m assigned to kill Zabuza. Thank you for incapacitating him for me."

"Stand down, Sakura. He's right," says Kakashi, assuring her that this guy seems to be telling the truth from what they can tell.

Jumping down to the forest floor, the hunter-nin says, “If you don't mind, I will now take this body to dispose of." 

Shortly after that, he disappears in a swirl of leaves, transporting away. Kakashi soon turns his attention to head over to Tazuna's house, but collapses before he can go very far.

"Sensei!" Sakura calls out.

"He's fine. He just used up too much chakra," says Naruto, going over to help. "Come on; let's get him to Tazuna-san's house."

She nods, trying to pick up her sensei, but she’s having trouble. Seeing this, Naruto assists to their sensei's other side, allowing the two genin to carry Kakashi to safety, Sasuke trailing behind with Tazuna taking the lead.

"Are you alright?" Tsunami asks when she sees the masked ninja waking up as he groans in response.

"What happened?"

"You passed out from chakra exhaustion,” Sasuke replies as he’s been passing by the doorway to see that his sensei is finally up, deciding to raise the issue of what’s going on.

Before the raven can say anything, Kakashi orders, “Go find the others. I have something to tell the three of you."

“Hn,” grunts Sasuke in confirmation, walking out of the room. 

Ten minutes later all three members of Team 7 gathers in their sensei's room. Tazuna also comes in to join, curious of what this might be about in particular. Kakashi is able to sense a sixth presence beyond that of the five here, assuming it’s the grandson that Tazuna has spoken of earlier.

"What do you want to tell us sensei?" Asks Naruto, anticipating what is to come next.

"I think that Zabuza might still be alive," he announces as everyone in the room gasps in disbelief.

"But how?" Wonders Sakura in shock.

"Now that I think about it, a hunter-nin is suppose to dispose the body on the spot, in order to help eliminate risk of the body's secrets getting out. That hunter-nin grabbed the body and left. I think he might have been on Zabuza's side all along…. The whole charade with him pretending to kill Zabuza is just that, a trick meant to throw us of course, and have us believe that the danger is over. It also serves to safely remove Zabuza from any danger he might be in,” explains Kakashi to the group in here with him.

"Makes sense. So, are we going to train in case the two of them come back?" Questions the blonde.

"Hai. I won't be able to fight for a week, but I will be able to train you three. Meet me outside this house tomorrow morning,” Kakashi tells his team sternly.

"Hatake-san, don't you think that you need to rest a bit longer in order to give your leg more time to heal?" Tsunami asksworriedly.

"No, but thank you for your concern. I'm a ninja and have had much more debilitating injuries than this," assures Kakashi.

“Alright…. Just be careful.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie twelve. I apologize if it’s a little short. Trust me, it’s for a good reason. Mainly because I can’t possibly revise a ten thousand word amount in one shot. I have to break it up into smaller chappies so I can update regularly enough._ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever it’s finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	13. Collapse

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. I hope you all are liking how it’s going so far. I think it works out well enough. It’ll be interesting how this progresses further. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 13: Collapse**

"Alright, team, listen up!" Kakashi commands the next day as he and the genin of Team seven are standing in the middle of a clearing in the woods not too far from Tazuna's house. “We’re going to be climbing trees today."

Two of the three genin are evidently confused by this announcement although Sasuke shows it way less than Sakura does, “What do you mean sensei? We already know how to climb trees.” 

"Ah, yes, but do you know how to climb them with just your feet?" their teacher challenges in retort.

"I do!" Shouts out Naruto. His two teammates and one sensei turn to him.

"Well, then, show us," says Kakashi, thinking that the blonde is just bluffing in order to look cooler because he seriously doubts that he has the level of control required for the tree climbing exercise.

“Alright,” agrees Naruto without complaint, seeing no harm in it. 

Walking towards one of the trees, he keeps on going. To his team's amazement, he keeps going until he reaches one of the middle branches, from there proceeding to stand upside down. Seeing his teammates in this position has him have a hard time concealing a light smile. They appear so taken aback, wandering if they really think he’s that low of a level, wondering if any of them know what he contains within. 

“I can go all the way to the top, but that’s too troublesome,” admits the blonde sheepishly.

“Where have you learn that, Naruto?" Asks Kakashi warily.

"I taught myself! I had really bad chakra control, so I spent a bit of time trying to figure out ways to improve it. I stumbled upon tree walking and water walking,” says Naruto as to explain it away, not wanting them to think over it too much.

Kakashi sighs, mentally. Of course, figuring that he must of had to find some way to teach himself, because of the villagers' aversion to him learning anything actually useful. Although it’s indeed surprising that he’s been able to not only discover tree walking, but master it.

"Well, then, how far are you on water walking?" Asks Kakashi to see what else he might have to reveal.

"I can balance on even fast moving water by now. As far as I can tell I can even fight on it as long as I don't use jutsus that require a large amount of concentration,” replies Naruto after some thought about it.

"Well, continue practicing your chakra control any way you can," tells Kakashi to him before turning his attention to the other two of their group. "From what I've heard and observed your control still sucks."

Shrugging, Naruto raises a brow, yeah I know. My chakra just has the weird tendency to randomly flux…. So, it’s a bit difficult. See ya!"

Jumping down from his perch, he rushes off into the forest, jumping along in the section of the trees that’s more populated with branches. This turns Kakashi’s attention further on Sakura and Sasuke. Both still need to undergo with the exercise while Naruto doesn’t need to. Still, it requires the jounin to at least give it to those who need it.

"Well, now for you two. As soon as you master the tree climbing exercise then you can move onto water walking,” Kakashi tells them simply. “Tree climbing works by channeling chakra into your feet and maintaining a steady flow. Well, I'm off!"

Sasuke wordlessly scowls at where his sensei had been standing moments before. Turning to the tree, he takes a running start to get about ten feet off before he’s repelled from the tree because he put too much chakra into his feet. Looking over to Sakura, she manages to get all the way up to the top. Scowling further, Sasuke wonders if he’s so weak as to have a useless girl like Sakura and the class dobe, Naruto, surpassed him so quickly. Continuing the training for a few hours, Sakura has long since gone home. Then, without warning, he hears a voice coming from his right.

"Still going, eh, teme?" Naruto asks. Sasuke scowls at the implication, “Impressive. It took me twice as long to reach that height."

The raven blinks. Of course he’s far stronger than the dobe! The idiot has just managed to learn about the technique earlier is all.

"If you're wondering how Sakura is able to get it so fast, it's because she has so little chakra that it’s easy for her to control. That's also why she has to go back so early,” pipes up the blonde to let him know, hoping to solve all of his insecurities.

"Hmph," grunts Sasuke before saying to him. "Hey, dobe, how do you get this?'

This causes it to be Naruto’s turn to blink at the fact that Sasuke is actually asking him of all people for help before grinning widely. 

"You just need to stay calm. Chakra control is affected by emotions. The more emotionally worked up you are, the harder it is to control your chakra," Naruto says, parroting what Sakura has told him in the original timeline. 

Of course, for him, the opposite is true. Because of his status as a jinchurriki, the more emotional he gets then the more he draws on Kurama’s power, causing the more balance to be given to his chakra. When he’s using primarily his chakra then it tends to react violently with the trace amounts of his beast’s chakra. Somehow it always finds in all of his chakra for no good reason. The higher percentage of Kurama’s power in his chakra then the easier it is for him to just prevent the chakra's reactions from affecting his jutsus. Sasuke inwardly nods, making sense for him to turn back to the tree to gather chakra, focusing on staying as calm as possible. It works after about two tries this time, managing to get a good five feet above where he had been.

"Hey, Sasuke-teme, I think that's enough for today," calls out Naruto from his current position. "We need to go eat now."

The Uchiha merely replies with, “Hn.” 

"Come on! They're serving ramen!" Announces Naruto, grabbing his teammate's hand to drag him back to the house, grinning like a maniac all the way there.

When they arrive at the house they enter for them to sit down at the table. Seeing the food causes all thoughts of annoyance at the blonde for interrupting his training to disappear from Sasuke's mind. Damn, he sure is hungry. Naruto and Sasuke both begin eating ravenously, tearing into the food. Sakura, meanwhile, is marveling at how the two can eat so fast. She has indeed exhausted all of her chakra reserves, but not having as much chakra to begin with she doesn’t need to eat as much in order to replenish her energy. Kakashi is also eating at a reasonable pace, not having tired himself out all that much.

Dinner continues without much mishap. The seven people all split up to go their own ways afterwards. Most depart to go to bed. Naruto is the only one that decides to stay up to train. Flash-stepping out to the clearing he’s been practicing in earlier has it about a mile or two away from the one Sasuke and Sakura had been at. Sitting cross legged, Naruto gathers as much of his chakra as currently possible into his palm. Concentrating as hard as he can, he begins introducing threads of red chakra from Kurama into the mix. His intentions are to be able to use the power she gives, preferably with almost no chakra to make it safe for his chakra coils even though higher percentages of chakra are higher to control has them incapable of damaging his coils that way. His goal is to summon up at the least a small spark of kitsunebi, something he won’t be able to do with human chakra.

Spending hours just sitting there, occasionally being thrown back when his control slips for the flame and beast chakra suddenly flares up. By the time he decides to call it quits, completely exhausting his supply of chakra, he manages to severely burn his arms and torso several times over, causing Kurama to have to pump extra of her chakra into his body in order to heal the injuries. Sadly, he still hasn’t been able to create a flame that doesn’t immediately turn into a bonfire to attempt to burn him alive.

_That’s a good start, kit. Just don’t overdo it too much, ok?_

()()()()()

The next day, Team 7 gathers in the original clearing. Naruto has managed to regain a bit of his chakra, but is still worn out. Kakashi tells them all that Sakura will be joining him in guarding Tazuna that day, while Sasuke and Naruto continue to work on their chakra control. Once at the bridge, Sakura sits down on the sidelines while Kakashi meanders off to who knows where. After about an hour of watching the construction workers work, Sakura begins to doze off.

"You look pretty bored over there by yourself," Tazuna calls out. "Where's that blonde idiot and the arrogant guy?"

"They're training in tree climbing exercises," she explains to the client.

"Oh, really?" Tazuna asks, thinking that tree climbing is a ridiculous thing to train in. "Why aren't you training too?"

"I'm really smart, so Kakashi-sensei told me to guard the bridge," she answers, not wanting to admit the real reason behind it.

"Really?" he asks incredulously, not seeing how the girl is all that smart

Picking up on his tone, Sakura grows angry. "Why, you!" 

The bridge builder ignores her, currently talking to one of the workers that wants to quit. Hearing what the worker has to say, Tazuna calls for a lunch break. Due to how it’s her job specifically to guard Tazuna, Sakura goes with him. Walking through the city, Sakura is hard pressed to see anything but signs of poverty and depression. Seeing the people walking around with signs saying that they’ll do any work, and some just sitting there dejectedly, having lost all hope, she feels bad for these people. The feeling only intensified when a small child steps up to her, begging for her to comply to give the girl some candy.

"It's been like this ever since Gatou came," Tazuna says dejectedly. "The adults all lost their courage. That's why we need this bridge. It'll be a sign of hope. If only that bridge can be finished…. This town will finally be like it was before. Everyone will go back to normal…"

Sakura can only nod, having been driven speechless by the conditions of the city. They walk back to the bridge in silence.

That night at dinner, while Tsunami is washing the dishes and everyone else is finishing up; Sakura can’t help to notice the torn picture that Inari has been staring at throughout dinner. 

"Um, why are you hanging a torn picture?" she asks, curious about what it might mean. "It looks like someone purposefully tore out the fourth person in the group. Who is that person?"

Tsunami tenses up when she hears Sakura ask about the picture, “He was my husband.” 

“He was known as the hero of this village," Tazuna added in.

"The hero?" Sakura asks, interest perking up at the sound of a story to tell.

Inari, angered that his grandfather dare talk about his dad, curtly gets up to run out of the room, “What’s with him?"

"Kaiza was the closest thing to a father that Inari ever had," Tazuna explain to them, glancing off the way that the child goes off in. "He was killed by Gatou after he saved the village from a flood. Gatou killed him because he didn't want the people to have a hero to look up to and rally to. When Kaiza died Inari stopped believing in the possibility of a hero."

Naruto clenches his fists when Sakura asks about the picture, knowing they’ve been tightening all throughout the story, “Well, then, I'm going to train extra hard, so that I can prove to Inari that there is such thing as heros.” 

Getting up from his seat, he goes out the room. When Kakashi tells him that he really doesn’t need to train anymore. What else he says is that it can be dangerous, Naruto just reassures him not to worry, letting him know that he’ll be fine. Having gotten his sensei to let him go train, Naruto goes over to the clearing in which he first met Haku, hoping beyond hope that he might be able to engineer events in such a way that Haku and Zabuza will both live for the Wave and his teammates also remain safe.

_Hey, brat, wake up. Someone's coming,_ warns Kurama, annoyed at her host's lack of ability to defend himself.

Stirring, Naruto realizes what Kurama has said, _So far, so good…_

True to the original timeline, Haku soon shakes Naruto awake, telling him that if he stays out here that he might catch a cold.

"Are you a ninja?" Haku asks, noticing the headband on Naruto’s forehead. "You have a forehead protector…"

"Yup! I'm training for a super hard mission,” replies Naruto honestly. “What are you doing out here?"

"I'm gathering herbs for a friend of mine,” answers Haku quietly, telling the truth to him.

"Can I help? My name's Naruto,” the blonde offers.

"Sure Naruto-kun. This is what the herb looks like,” the two spend about fifteen minutes gathering herbs in silence before Haku asks. “Naruto-kun, do you have a precious person?"

“Yes, just five though, but I think only two of them really like me," he says, causing Haku to smile a little at him considering how to the black haired male has five precious people, even if only two reciprocated the feeling, is quite a lot. "Do you want to be my friend, too?"

Haku is startled at the request, “Why do you ask that, Naruto-kun?"

"Not many people in my village like me. You seem like a nice guy, one who doesn’t judge someone based on how unlucky or lucky they are when he or she is born.” 

Haku grows intrigued by this information. It sounds like he has the same problem he does, having thought that Konoha is a village that values those with bloodlines, “Why?” 

“Before you get the wrong idea, it isn't because of a bloodline that most hate me. Konoha is in the habit of putting extra stock in those who have kekkei genkai. They hate me for a whole other reason entirely,” explains Naruto, not liking to have to talk about this although will if he feels it’s necessary.

“Oh, but then what is it?" Asks Haku, thinking it might be because his family has somehow brought immense shame onto themselves, not able to imagine how or why a whole village might hate one out of everyone else.

"I'm not supposed to tell anyone this,” begins Naruto with a visible frown. “But I get the feeling that not only do you understand me is that you're trustworthy. They hate me ‘because I’ma jinchurriki even in a city like Konoha we suffer the same fate as elsewhere."

Haku starts upon hearing that the blonde is a jinchurriki of all things. He has heard of such beings, the containers for great demons, the like of which are far too powerful to be beaten normally. No matter where they are has them to always to be given hatred and seen as a reincarnation of the demon itself. Seeing the look of concern on the blonde's face, he hastens to reassure him that he doesn’t hate him.

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun, I don't hate you. I understand what it's like to be hated for something you have no control over,” reassures Haku.

“Thanks,” grins Naruto slightly. “I’m glad you understand, hunter-san."

"Wh-what are you saying?" Stutters out Haku, hearing what he refers to him as, thinking that he can’t possibly know or perhaps he might be able to figure it out.

“Either you're the hunter-nin that tricked me and my team when we fought Zabuza or you've got an identical twin somewhere out there posing as a hunter-nin," points out Naruto, his grin growing a little wider.

“How do you know?" Genuinely wanting to know, Haku’s hand strays to his hidden weapons while he looks around for Naruto's teammates, expecting a trap of some sort.

"Your chakra signature's the same. No need to be alarmed though. I come in peace," says Naruto, smiling for now. Haku to become confused by his words. "I don't like having to fight people who are pretty much just like me. Besides, I want to find a way for us and our allies to stop fighting without too many casualties. Of course this excludes Gatou and his help."

"What do you mean?” Asking this, Haku has Naruto’s full attention now.

"I want us to work together. Gatou is a dirty scumbag who's probably going to betray you and Zabuza. He’ll probably try to have you killed," tells Naruto to Haku, receiving a nod as he’s been suspecting all along that Gatou will be the kind to do that. “I’m thinking that if we can keep our friends from killing each other long enough for Gatou to announce that he's going to stop paying you two then we can beat that fucking piece of shit into a pulp. Still, we’ll come out fine. Also, I don't want to have to fight a friend and a fellow outcast."

"Besides the increased chance of life, what's in it for me and Zabuza-sama?" Haku wants to know.

"You know how I said earlier that I'm a jinchurriki?" Begins Naruto up again. Seeing Haku nod for him to continue, "My demon is the crown princess of the kitsune. I can get you two as much money as you need. I’m currently trying to get together my own organization. If the two of you joined not only will you have my full support, but the support of the others I can convince to join along with any fox demons who still have a shred of common sense left in them even if you decide to strike out on your own you’ll be paid to have my favor."

Considering htis, Haku seems to be in deep thought. Trying to start an organization is a high order for a seemingly thirteen-year old even if he is the jinchurriki of a crown princess. Several minutes pass by while a silence falls between them. When he’s done thinking it over, he turns his gaze back on the blonde across from him. 

What’s in it for you, then?"

Shaking his head, Naruto tells him, “I thought I already told you. You're my friend and fellow sufferer. Of course, if you mean from a purely mercenary point of view, there's still a pretty good reason to help you two. You are the sole survivor of a clan with a powerful bloodline limit. Zabuza is one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist."

Haku nods in consent to this, thinking that the explanation makes sense so far although there is one thing he feels concerned about, “But why start an organization in the first place if you're already a shinobi of one of the Five Elemental Countries?"

“I have many reasons. There are two main points though. One is too provide a rally point. This is also to be a way of gathering for outcasts like you, me, and Zabuza. The second reason is to combat organization such as the Akatsuki, the Kitsuekikage, and the Hogosha no Kanshisha. The Akatsuki is an organization consisting of S-rank criminals that hunts down jinchurriki in hopes of extracting their demon so that they can utilize its power. The Kitsuekikage also hunts jinchurriki, but for a different reason. They will outright kill the us because not only do they believe that we are abominations, but that we are a threat to society. They think that the only way to prevent jinchuuriki from being captured by people such as the Akatsuki or going AWOL is to kill them. The Hogosha no Kanshisha is the same as the Kitsuekikage, but they hunt people with bloodlines rather than people like me. Also, in addition, there are people like Orochimaru who prey on those with bloodlines, hoping to gain that power for their own aspirations for immortality."

Haku has been listening intently throughout the blonde's explanation, his face gradually grows paler and paler, being all to familiar with such people. Knowing as to where the blonde is coming from, setting up an organization specifically to counteract such people is a grand idea. It’s something he thinks that he can get behind.

"Well, Haku-kun, what's it going to be?" Asks Naruto patiently.

Briefly wondering how he knows his name (and about his kekkei genkai, for that matter), taking a deep breath. What he hopes is that this is a good decision he’s making here. It’s not often that he makes these out of Zabuza’s order. Though he thinks that this will aid them both in the long run.

“I’m in. So, what's the plan?”

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie thirteen. I apologize if it’s a little short, but that’s just how it is. Hopefully you all are liking the progression and changes I’m making to this. Damn, there’s still oh so much more content for this I have yet to revise. Hehes_ **

**_It’ll be fun to continue working on this. I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	14. Pursuit

**_Hey y'all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. I just felt like working more of this. I'll get around to updating my other works in due course. It just takes more time depending on whenever I can get chappies finished being written up and all. So, thanks y'all for continuing to be patient with me. It means a lot._ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 14: Pursuit**

_Dammit. What the hell is the dobe thinking, disappearing like that_? Sasuke thought to himself as he and the blonde are on guard duty that day, being his job to find the missing in action comrade that's gone off on his own without any notice.

Walking to the clearing where they've been training earlier, Sasuke thought he can hear voices. Exiting the trees, he sees Naruto talking to a male with long, black hair. Seeing that he's just getting up to leave when he turns around to spot him. Naruto apparently notices his presence at the same time.

"Tch, dobe. Where have you been? We have guard duty today. Who's that?" The Uchiha's train of thought is cut off with the male standing next to his teammate is still there.

"His name's Haku! He's my new friend," explains Naruto, gesturing wildly to the male beside him.

"You must be Sasuke, correct? It's nice to meet you," says Haku, bowing slightly to him. "Naruto-kun told me all about you along with his other friends."

After relaying the plan to Haku, ironing out a few rough edges. He and the other Male has spoken of various random things including the people they've met. To say the least is that Haku finds the blonde quite interesting.

"Good day, Uchiha-san, Naruto-kun," Haku says to them before departing from the area to leave the two alone.

Sasuke feels a stab of an unfamiliar emotion in his chest. It seems to be a dark emotion that tells him to grab the blonde and thrust a sword through Haku's chest at the same time. He doesn't really understand why he feels the urge to do such a thing. Though it's a stupid thought anyway to him.

"Hn, come on dobe. We need to get started already," insists Sasuke.

"Ok, let me just get something from the house first."

()()()()()

About half an hour later the two are resting on the sidelines of the bridge, bored. Kakashi is currently training Sakura in the water walking exercise, actually deciding to act like he's serious about being her sensei for once this time around. Sasuke seems to be staring over the edge of the bridge at the waves, bored, while Naruto's trying to grasp the concept of 'algebra'. At the moment, he's reading a textbook on the subject. Normally, he might of joined his teammate in staring at the waves, but Kurama insists that he needs to improve his intelligence slightly at the least, declaring that her having a stupid and weak container reflects badly on her reputation, being shocked when she learns that he's only known anything beyond how to add, the barest essentials of reading, writing, and how to sign his name up until he turned fourteen. At that age he learns basic reading skills and simple multiplication. She decides to make sure that he'll be better educated from this point onwards.

 _Grr, I can't make heads or tails of this thing!_ he thought angrily.

 _P-L-U-S spells plus_ , pipes up Kurama, implying an insult towards Naruto's intelligence, looking at the page that he's stuck on which is one of the more basic problems.

 _This is going to take a while,_ she thought in resignation though has known this for quite a while beforehand.

After about eight hours of sitting there doing absolutely nothing, the time comes to head back. That night, after dinner, Tazuna raises an issue that has been on his mind since Zabuza's attack. Hopefully the others will take his words in heed of what he needs to relay to them.

"I'm happy for the help, but I'm wondering, since I lied to you about the mission, why are you four still here?" Asks the bridge builder.

This time though it's Naruto who replies to his inquiry instead of Kakashi, "Because to protect you guys is no longer just a mission, it's our duty, and to abandon one's duty is not courageous. Below courage, there's nothing. Those are the words of the Shodaime Hokage of Konohagakure."

Inari then remembers the courageous acts of his father, having been only in Inari's mind, resulted in him being killed by Gatou's men. "is Why…" Inari begins to cry, "Why do you try so hard even if you train, you can't beat Gatou's men! No matter how hard you work, or how big you talk!"

Naruto tenses upon hearing the boy's words, "Look, brat, go ahead and believe that if you want. It doesn't make any difference to me. If all you do is cry and mope like some kind of victim. People like Gatou are going to walk all over you! People like you disgust me. Hiding behind their fears to think that they have it the worst, that there's no one out there who knows how they feel or Kami forbid, actually has it worse! Well, guess what, brat, no matter how hard you have it there is always someone out there who has it ."

At this point Naruto looks up from staring at the floor to gaze around the room, focusing his glare in on Inari. The boy cowers under the sheer intensity of that glare. It strips him of all of his masks and presumptions, leaving only what he is: a small, scared child missing his father.

"As long as all you do is whine and complain, things aren't going to change. Instead of sitting around, predicting doom and destruction while waiting for someone else to come along and save you, why don't you get up off your sorry ass and do something?" Naruto then turns on his heel to stalk out of the room as he fumes with the audacity Inari has.

After he's left Inari breaks down crying. Running out of the room has the remaining five occupants of the kitchen to stay there in shock by how Naruto has spoken. Sasuke and Kakashi are especially startled by the hidden meaning behind those angry words that Naruto has spoken. Not for the first time, Kakashi finds himself wondering exactly what is behind the mask that the blonde always wears. What he also wonders is what secrets he's hiding from everyone else. After everyone has gone their separate ways, Kakashi goes to go find Inari, locating the boy sitting on the dock outside the house, sulking. Not bothering to hide his presence, he approaches to sit down next to the forlorn child.

"Naruto can be a bit harsh sometimes," Kakashi begins to say to him. "Even though he means well."

Inari just grunts which he notices to prove that his current tactic isn't working, Kakashi switches to the backup plan, "You know, he never knew his father either."

At this tidbit of information, Inari raises his head out of slight curiosity, "In fact, he grew up without ever knowing either of his parents or his other family. He had to look out for himself since Day one. On top of that, he was hated by a vast majority of the villagers for a reason he didn't even understand. Despite all of that, he smiles and looks forward, hoping that someday he'll be able to change their minds to become their protector."

Kakashi gets up after his little speech, leaving Inari with much to think about. The two genin and one jounin walk alongside their client towards the bridge. They left their third member Naruto with Tsunami because the night before he went into a training frenzy, managing to knock himself out. Kakashi suspects that it'll take several days for the blonde to completely recover. The silver haired jounin is worrisome by the lack of movement coming from the bridge. Normally, even this early in the day, someone is usually operating something, in order to speed along the process of the bridge building. As the approached the main work area of the bridge, they see precisely why. The mist slowly parts to reveal the fallen workers. Luckily, many are still groaning and shifting, showing that they survive the encounter. The shinobi tense up, weapons at the ready, as the mist thickens unnaturally quickly. A deep, ominous chuckle emanates from all around.

()()()()()()

Naruto blinks, opening his eyes. Sunlight filters in through the open window next to his bed. Quirking a brow, he wonders why he's here instead of with the rest of his team.

"Ah, shit! I'm late!" Shouts the blonde in alarm, hurrying to get dressed although he can't believe they left him at the house again.

Saying a quick goodbye to Tsunami, he rushes out the door as he moves towards the bridge. As he's running, he can't help but shake the feeling that he's forgotten something really important. When he sees sword marks on the trees and a butchered pig, all the pieces click to have them fall into place.

 _Fuck! I can't believe I forgot that,_ he thought, switching directions as he prays that he won't be too late.

_If you are then there's always a way to find a way around it. Don't lose your cool just yet, kit…_

()()()()()

Sasuke tenses as eight exact copies of Zabuza appears around him. Looking closely, he scans for signs of anything off about them.

"Heh, do you really think these brats can beat me, Kakashi?" They all say in unison. "That one's already quivering with fear."

Having determined that all of the clones are indeed just that, Sasuke smirks, "I'm shaking with… excitement, fool. An Uchiha has no fear."

Leaping, he deals each clone a small cut, causing them to collapse back into water.

"He's fast. You might have a rival, Haku," Zabuza murmurs while the said individual merely nods.

The fifteen year old missing-nin is currently looking around for any signs of Naruto. The blonde has said that he might very well be late, but so many things are riding on this plan and its success that even Haku is slightly worried that something might go wrong. If things don't go remotely as by the plan. The results can be drastic to result in the deaths of all who are involved. Smirking, Sasuke charges Haku, only for the missing-nin to vanish, reappearing behind Sasuke to brandish multiple senbon. With a flick of his wrist, he throws them at Sasuke. The Uchiha merely deflects them with a kunai, before trying to once again attack Haku.

 _If this is going to work, I need to make it look like I'm actually trying to kill him,_ Haku thought, while verbally pointing out how Sasuke has managed to get himself into a bad situation.

"I now have the advantage," he says calmly. "You now only have one hand to defend yourself with."

Haku then began flashing through one-handed seals, surprising everyone there except for Zabuza. His companion knows all too well of what Haku is capable of.

"Sensatsu Suishou!" Shouts out Haku, forming ice needles out of the water that has been gathered in the air. The needles all aligned themselves to be pointing at Sasuke. Once at the correct point, they all fly at him at an extremely high speed. Both shinobi jump away although Sasuke has to pump chakra into his legs in order to become fast enough.

 _So much for his aversion to killing,_ Zabuza thought in concern.

Sasuke scowls, drawing another kunai before he goes to charge at Haku once again, intent on winning the fight.

()()()()()

 _Kuso!_ Naruto thought, rushing back towards Tsunami's house, slowing down as he comes within sight of the house, seeing as how he doesn't want to get caught.

The blonde sighs in relief upon seeing that he manages to arrive about ten seconds earlier than he has in the original timeline. Gathering his chakra, he creates two shadow clones which he instantly henge into shuriken. Holding the two henged clones at the ready, he switches Inari with a log just as the two swordsmen might of cut him into bits.

"Good thing I arrived when I did!" Naruto exclaims, setting down Inari and his mother. "Great job distracting those two thugs, Inari! You diverted their attention and enabled me to use a jutsu to rescue your mom and get you out of the way."

"Naruto-niisan, how did you know that the two samurai are coming here?" Inari asks in confusion

Grinning, Naruto replies, "On the way to the bridge I saw a cut up pig and a bunch of branches and trees and stuff that has sword marks on them, as if someone has been practicing with swords. They lead back to your house. So, I rush as fast as I can to here."

"So, that's how," Inari says while thinking,  _Wow…_

"Hey, gaki, what do you think you're doing, interfering with our work?" one of the two henchmen asks. "Aren't you one of those idiot kids that Tazuna hired?"

"Oh, yeah! I forgot about you two," Naruto almost shouts, annoying Gatou's bodyguards beyond belief.

"Hn, you're nothing too special," he states in a bored monotone as he throws two shuriken at them, not even bothering to aim.

Furious, the two partially draw their swords, deflecting the shuriken so that they fly behind them. The triumphant smirk on Naruto's face at this action not only serves to enrage them further but to also confuse them. All of their questions as to the origin of the blonde's facial expression are solved as the two shuriken disappear in a poof of smoke, revealing two shadow clones that kick the petty criminals in the head. Before they can react, he knocks them unconscious.

"A-Amazing," Inari says at watching it all happen.

"Hey, Inari," Naruto says, getting his attention. "About what I said yesterday… I'm sorry."

"For what?" Inari asks.

Sighing, Naruto clarifies, "For calling you a weakling and a coward. You're really strong to have been able to stand up to those two rounin!" (AN: Rounin are rouge samurai)

Upon hearing Naruto call him strong, Inari grins as wide as humanly possible, "Thanks, Naruto-niisan!"

"Take care of your mom for me," Naruto orders, finishing tying up the two unconscious henchmen. "I'm going to go help my friends."

"Alright!" Inari agrees, already bending down to pick up his mom and carry her inside, watching as Naruto runs off into the forest to head in the direction of the unfinished bridge.

()()()()()

Haku and Sasuke have been fighting for at the least a minute before Sasuke has had a lapse in attention. Luckily, this is caused by his superiority complex, allowing Haku to, once again, run through a series of one-handed seals.

"Makyou Hyou Shou!" he shouts, causing the water that lies around him and his opponent to rise into the air, solidifying into seventeen rectangular mirrors that arrange in a dome surrounding Sasuke for Haku to then melt into one of the mirrors as his image appears on the surface of every single one.

 _Damn it!_ Kakashi thought, rushing to Sasuke's defense or at the least, that's what he tries to do while being kept from going any further by Zabuza's monstrous blade.

"Your opponent is me," the Demon of the Mist hisses. "Against that jutsu he's finished."

"Well, shall I begin? The time has come for me to show you my real speed. You'll be surprised what my mirrors and ice are capable of."

**_Oks, that's the end of chappie fourteen. I hope you all enjoyed. Hopefully it won't take me too long to revise the next one for this. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	15. Pierce

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. I apologize the wait. I hope to update this a few times today because I don’t have chappies for any other story finished being written up yet. Rest assure that I am working on them. It just takes longer at times than for others._ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 15: Pierce**

"Sasuke!" Shouts out Kakashi as he sees how his student is bombarded by needles.

"Sasuke-kun!" Yells out Sakura in fear, watching in horror as the kunai that her crush has been carrying is knocked out of his hand, landing in front of her as he gets scratch and impaled by so many senbon that he starts to exclaim in pain.

"If you go to help that brat,” Zabuza warns, "I'll kill those two!"

"Tazuna-san," Sakura says at figuring out what their enemy means. "I'm sorry. I'm going to have to leave you for a moment."

"It's okay," the bridge builder says, “Go save your friend." 

Sakura nods, grabbing the kunai to charge at where Haku and Sasuke are fighting. Before attempting to throw the kunai to Sasuke, Haku deftly catches it as he leans out of one of the mirrors slightly. Suddenly, something hits Haku in the chin so hard that it knocks him out of the mirror. Raising himself to his hands and knees, Haku looks around only to see Naruto poof in to announce his arrival.

Zabuza scowls while Kakashi is mentally asking the heavens why he has to be the one saddled with the hyperactive, not too bright demon container. 

“Stupid brat," Zabuza growls, flinging numerous kunai and shuriken at the blonde as everyone there except for Naruto and Haku is very surprised when Haku deflects all of the projectiles.

"Sorry, Zabuza-sama," he says with an apologetic look, "But I want to be the one to fight him."

"Do whatever the hell you wish. Doesn't matter either way to me," says Zabuza bluntly, wondering what is with the sudden mood change from aversion to fighting to what is almost eagerness.

Nodding, Haku merges back into the mirror. After Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke have all thought about how this is good because if Naruto attacks from the outside while Sasuke attacks from the inside then they just might be able to figure out how Haku's jutsu works. All of them are in awe when Naruto, obviously not having gotten the memo, shows up inside the mirror instead. 

“Dobe, What the hell do you think you're doing??” Sasuke asks in alarm.

"Helping you, teme! Duh,” says Naruto, receiving another scowl from him though in response.

"I think these mirrors are the main problem," states his companion at noticing they encompass all around them.

Before he can continue, Naruto shouts, “Well, then I'll just break them into bits! It'll be easy! Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Meanwhile, Zabuza has initiated his hidden mist jutsu, rendering Kakashi's exposed sharingan useless. The copycat ninja is currently trying to figure out where his opponent is through all of the wisps in the surrounding area. Before he realizes who he is most likely to go after has Sasuke and Naruto fighting on the other side of the battlefield. What he can hear is a loud, feminine scream. 

_Sakura_ , they all thought, identifying the voice. 

Their fight with Haku has been going on for several minutes, occurring much like it has originally. The exception is that this time around Haku is trying purposefully not to hit Naruto to much while trying to hit Sasuke in such a manner that it’ll hinder his ability to move and dodge. This only is capable as long as the needles remained stuck in him. Sasuke has yet to gain access to his sharingan. Preparing for another barrage of senbon, Haku notices that Sasuke has gotten to the point where he barely dodges anymore. Seeing him moving slowly, he decides that this is the perfect time to put Naruto's plan into action. Moving quickly, Haku charges straight at Sasuke, obviously trying to kill him. The Uchiha begins to panic when he realizes that he can’t move fast enough to get out of Haku's way. Closing his eyes, he waits for the inevitable.

()()()()()

Sakura opens her eyes, expecting to be dead. After all, an A-rank missing-nin has just tried to cut her in half with a gargantuan zanbato. Instead, she sees that her sensei is blocking the sword with the metal plate on his gloves. Blood is dripping from where sword meets hand. Scared stiff, Sakura can only watch as her teacher pushes Zabuza's blade away, driving a kunai into his stomach. At the same time, themissing-nin disappears to be replaced by collapsing water, causing the kunoichi to tense as an ominous chuckle comes from all around.

"I know your weak spots, Kakashi,” Zabuza says, his voice sounding disembodied. "The sharingan has two main parts. One analyses my movement and chakra, predicting what I'm going to do next, allowing you to 'copy' me. The other casts a hypnotic genjutsu on me, bending me to your will to further the impression that you can see the future. These minor inconveniences are easily solved. In order to counteract the first part, I surrounded you with my mist, reducing visibility to zero. The second part is even easier to deal with. I just keep my eyes closed, preventing you from making eye contact."

_Well, this is just fucking great,_ Kakashi thought grimly. “Good deduction…. I wonder how you figured it out."

Chuckling under his breath, Zabuza replies, “Haku, is a genius. He can see an opponent's attack once and immediately come up with an unbeatable counterattack. He was watching our little fight earlier. Your sharingan is all too easy for him to see through. You're nothing but a cheap fake, using other's jutsus and even bloodlines to make a name for yourself."

Kakashi scowls underneath his mask, his eyes narrowing, knowing that he needs to end this fight soon. Afterwards, he’ll go help the two genin he’s suppose to be protecting. Thinking as hard as he can, Kakashi comes up with the perfect counter to Zabuza's plan. What he hopes is that this will work sufficiently enough.

()()()()()

Sasuke braces himself as he sees his opponent coming to kill him. Flinching when he feels blood splatter on his face as his body jumps a bit, he realizes that even though he’s been covered in blood he hasn’t felt any pain from the attack. Opening his eyes, he looks up a bit. Only to see Naruto's back. The blonde is just standing there in between Sasuke and Haku. Looking beyond his teammate, Being able to see the fallen form of Haku. He at first thought that Naruto has deflected the attack somehow, the fact that the fox is bleeding quite a hell of a lot more than he might not really registering on his mind. Just as the fact that Naruto is badly hurt begins to make itself known in Sasuke confused mind, the blonde's legs crumpl underneath himas he falls back. Not really thinking, Sasuke jumps forward to catch him in his arms, halting his descent to the ground.

"S-Sasuke-t-teme, y-you okay?" Naruto asks, blinking open his eyes to look up at him, receiving a nod from Sasuke. "G-Good. W-Wouldn't d-do for you t-to b-be hurt…” 

"N-Naruto, why?" Sasuke manages to choke out. "Why protect me?" 

"D-Don't know,” admits the blonde. "M-My body just m-moves on its own." 

Coughing a few times before continuing, “S-Sasuke, m-my dr-dream and m-my ambition, they're still incomplete… 

Sasuke suddenly remembers when Naruto has said that he has a dream and an ambition beyond his goal of becoming Hokage, listening intently to him, “I’d w-wanted to b-be excepted, t-to be tr-treated like a regular h-human, n-not some d-dirty thing that n-needed to d-die. Th-that was my dr-dream." 

Tears begin gathering at the corners of his eyes, fighting hard to not let them fall. Knowing an Uchiha cannot shed such sorrows except to allow them remain deep inside, trying to ensure that his promise to his clan doesn’t go unheeded. There are things he doesn’t tell anyone either. Hearing this from Naruto hits him hard at his core.

“S-Sasuke, d-don't do something st-stupid th-that'll you'll end up regretting, ok? Y-You're my f-first fr-friend… I don't w-want you t-to be unhappy,” whispers out Naruto. 

Sasuke feels the tears slipping out of his eyes as his entire head begins to ache something fierce. Although the pain is mainly concentrated around his eye sockets. Naruto's body shudders as he takes in a shaky breath, before going limp, his breathing stops all together as the beat of his heart dies out before ceasing.

"NARUTO!" 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie fifteen. Hehes, I’m so diabolical of ending it there on such a cliffy of doom. I think y’all find it interesting as to what’ll happen next for this of course._ **

**_I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	16. Lament

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. My, my, this is progressing fairly nicely it seems. It’s pleasing to see how this is being well received so far. I hope you all continue to enjoy it. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, let’s get on with what’ll go down this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 16: Lament**

Kakashi and Sakura both hear Sasuke's anguished shout. Immediately, the jounin guesses what has happened. Frowning in concern, he’s not at all pleased with the details of what will happen if Naruto somehow perishes. Let’s just say it won’t be good for anyone here in all of the Five Nations.

_Fuck! I need to finish this now before Sasuke gets killed too,_ he thought, pulling out a scroll.

()()()()

Back with Sasuke and Haku, the Hyouton user is currently looking at his first friend's crush as he pulls Naruto's body to his chest, crying with his walls all the way down. Haku understands well enough why Naruto has chosen the plan he has, but he does indeed regret the amount of pain Sasuke has to be put through. Still, if what the blonde said is true for the Uchiha to think of his comrades so lowly along with him being so power-hungry then it’s probably better in the long run.

To protect a precious person, still knowing it is a trap is able to jump in, “He is a shinobi that deserved respect. This isn’t the first time a friend of yours has died, is it? This is the way of the shinobi…"

Sasuke squeezes his burning eyes shut as he hears Haku's words, rage and pain grow within him, “Shut up!” 

Haku melts back into one of the mirrors, allowing Sasuke to put Naruto down on the concrete as he continues, “Why do you decide to save me of all people, dobe? Why? I hated you!"

Haku is startled when the raven haired male looks up suddenly, glaring at the real Haku. His eyes have changed from his customary onyx to a crimson color, two tomoes locate themselves in each eye. Recognition dawns on Haku to realize that this must be the kekkei genkai of the Uchiha clan. The sharingan… Deciding to be careful for all of our sakes, he knows he needs to be careful when walking on eggshells around someone. Standing despite his injuries, Sasuke charges right at Haku with a renewed vigor, summoning up stores of energy he’s never known he has. What has actually happened is that, by some fluke or another, he’s managed to open the first gate, unlocking the brain's holds on the body's muscles. 

_I can see,_ he thought in shock when he realizes what he’s using.

Previously Haku's movements have been too fast for him to see precisely, but now it’s as if the he’s moving at normal speed if not slower. His jutsu is also more apparent, having Sasuke able to see how he might go about beating the his opponent. Haku tenses, recognizing the chakra signature change that opening the first gate causes. 

_How does he manage that?_ Haku thought, nervous as to when the jinchurriki will further his plan. _Naruto-kun said nothing of Sasuke knowing how to open the gates, and that's one damn lucky fluke. No matter…_

"You'll pay for what you have done to Naruto,” he growls, charging Haku, causing him to try to transport between mirrors although only to be given a kick by Sasuke, knocking him off course.

In retaliation, Haku flings as many senbon as he can at the Uchiha. All are to no avail. They are all given aversion, causing Haku to be given another kick in the gut, sending him flying between two of his mirrors to roll across the ground. Swiftly getting to his feet, Haku realizes that he has to stall until enough time has passed that Naruto can awake' from his coma without arousing suspicion. This in mind, he releases the jutsu that has been sustaining the ice mirrors, focusing all of his energy on avoiding the enraged genin. Opening up the first of the gates himself in order to not be overpowered too quickly, he hopes this will work.

"I'm not giving up that easily,” says Haku, dodging yet another of Sasuke's kicks for suddenly the raven's fist connects with his face, sending him skidding backwards to crack his mask.

Standing, Haku turns towards the charging Sasuke, slipping into a ready position as the last of the mask falls off of his face. The Uchiha comes to a sudden stop, though, shock evident on his face. Haku briefly wonders why, before remembering that Sasuke has seen him talking to Naruto.

“You,” says Sasuke, suddenly remembering the name that Naruto has given for his friend. "You're that boy that’s been speaking with Naruto.” 

“Yes,” Haku confirms. "We are friends. What does that have to do with anything?"

Sasuke growls before responding, “If he truly is your friend, then why kill him?" 

“I’m hired to kill the person he was assigned to protect. I actually haven’t been planning on killing the two of you, but to merely knock you unconscious. He ruined that plan of mine when he blocked my attack on you. In fact, if it had been just me who was hired, I would've quit the job upon befriending Naruto-kun, but Zabuza-sama won’t be please with me if I quit,” Haku tells Sasuke impassively. 

The raven is silent out of astonishment by his words although it only shows as a smidgen of confusion, “You know, you can’t hide your emotions so much."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asks, taken off guard by this statement.

"You wear a mask of coldness and uncaring. I don't think Naruto-kun, or whomever you lost before this fight like it if you shut everyone else out, although Naruto-kun probably won’t have spoken against it seeing as how he, too, wears a mask,” Haku explains sadly, knowing that Naruto won’t be too happy about him dropping clues as to how much the blonde hides even though he figures that if no one ever gives the raven even the slightest clue as to his teammate's mask then he’ll never figure it out, preferring to keep the world in his mind organized as how he sees it now.

"What the hell?" Is all Sasuke can conjure to say in reply to this. 

He is greatly angered by Haku's words. They strike a chord deep inside of him, fueling that one small part of him that argues that his mom, his aunts, his uncles, his cousins, maybe even his dad, might not have wanted him to shut himself off from the rest of society, choosing to live a half life of misery and loneliness just for the sake of his revenge. Shaking his head, he wonders what he’s thinking, unsure if he can allow Haku’s words to effect him that deeply, hearing only honesty ringing in his voice.

"Not all is as it seems with your friend," Haku says, continuing to speak to him to further stall for time, not realizing that he’s used the present tense until the words are out of his mouth even though Sasuke doesn’t notice that he’s referring to Naruto as if he’s still alive for him to instead concentrating on the meaning behind Haku's words.

"Doesn't matter,” says Sasuke, his anger returning as he fails to decipher the message behind the cryptic words of his foe at the current moment, deciding to figure it out later. "You still killed him…. I’ll still kill you for that.” 

Reactivating his sharingan, he reopens the first gate, having accidentally shut off both power-ups when he sees who he’s fighting. Haku slips back into a fighting pose, also reopening the first gate for himself. The two fight for another minute or two, before a distinct groan interrupts their fight. They both whip their heads around towards the direction of the sound only to see Naruto, rolling over onto his stomach to attempt to push himself up.

"Naruto! You're still alive?” Asks Sasuke, shocked for the second time that day as Haku sees an opening to take the chance to knock the Uchiha unconscious before rushing over to Naruto to see if he needs any help.

When Naruto has seen Sasuke crumpling to the ground, he stops pretending to be seriously hurt as he stands up, acting as if his wounds are minor for them to just be nothing more than a few scratches. 

"Hey, Haku-kun," he says after getting his bearings, "Can you help me get these needles out?" 

"You'll want to be more careful than that," sighs Haku. "Removing them so quickly can be dangerous." 

Stepping up to the blonde, he gently pries several senbon out of his neck, managing to not do any extra harm in the process. Haku afterwards starts removing the ones from Naruto's back while the blonde takes care of the ones on the front of his torso on his legs and arms.

"All done,” he announces when he’s pretty much needle free. 

Focusing a bit of Kurama’s chakra to his ears in order to enhance his hearing further to pick up the sound of crackling electricity. Realizing that Kakashi is already using his raikiri on Zabuza, cursing loudly as he turns to his companion here. “C’mon! Kakashi-sensei is about to drive a lightning jutsu through Zabuza's chest.” 

Hearing the blonde's words, Haku also curses loudly before he disappears from Naruto's sight.

“Fuck,” mutters Naruto to himself. "Whatever happened to not going in until you know the situation?" 

So, mentally running through a list of quite colorful language, Naruto runs off in the direction of Kakashi and Zabuza's fight.

()()()()

"This is the end,” shouts Kakashi, powering up his ultimate jutsu. 

Zabuza's eyes widen in surprise as he sees the concentrated mass of crackling lightning nature chakra that is about to plunge through his heart. Confident of the hit, seeing as how his target is currently being held down, Kakashi drives the jutsu towards the Demon of the Mist's heart. Both jounin are in shock when a mirror out of hardened ice appears in front of Kakashi, Haku standing behind it. Regardless, Kakashi's jutsu continues on, until, just a split second after the shinobi and the ice materializes. Everyone currently conscious on the bridge hears a desperate shout.

“HAKU! NO YOU IDIOT!"

Kakashi's mind is in turmoil right about now. That voice….. It sounds just like Naruto? Thinking as to how has he even managing to survive, guesses it’s one to chalk up to the further mysteries of the jinchurriki. Though he can always question him later if he really wants to. Right now isn’t the precise moment to be questioning it that closely.

Before anyone can react, Haku is shoved to the side by a blur of red and yellow just as the raikiri pierces through the icy mirror. Kakashi tries his hardest to cancel the jutsu, but is unable as he looks on in horror as the momentum from his attack carries his lightning covered hand straight through his least liked student. Piercing him through the heart, noticing in the brief silence afterwards he notices that Naruto is surrounded by an ominous energy which feels suspiciously like the Kurama’s energy instead of his own.

"Naruto-kun!" he hears the male from earlier shout.

_They refer to each other as ‘kun_ ’, notes Kakashi, wondering as to how and when they met each other.

Even though Zabuza is now free from his bonds, he is in shock from what just happened. His own student has thrown up a shield to throw himself in front of Zabuza. Of course this doesn’t surprise the elite member of the swordsman all that much. No, what has him in shock is that the blonde idiot, one of Kakashi's students no less, has just died to protect Haku. By the sound of it, the two are close friends. Meanwhile, Haku is praying to any deity that might decide to listen to one such as him, hoping that Naruto will make it through in one piece. While Haku is unreligious, he’s invested quite a bit into Naruto’s plan. Anyway, he likes the him to consider him a friend. It pains him to see the first friend around his own age that he’s ever really have die too protect him. 

_Now, I know how Sasuke feels._

Kakashi's eyes fill with horror as Naruto's body collapses to slump over. It has been bad enough when Kakashi's teammate has died protecting him, but to have one of his own charges die by his hand for said charge die because he decides to protect the enemy is just too much. Yanking his hand out of the boy's chest allows the body to finish collapsing to the ground. Sakura peers into the thick mist, wondering what is going on. All sounds of battle have ceased, barely able to make out what looks to be three figures standing along with one lying on the ground not too far off. The image becomes clearer as the mist lights up. Both Sakura and Tazuna gasp when they see the identity of the four figures.

"Naruto!" Shouts out Sakura, staring in horror at the bloody body of her teammate. ‘Where’s Sasuke?’ 

Her question is soon solved. A second body has just been released from the mist's clinging grasp. Kakashi, Sakura, and Tazuna all stare as if knowing exactly who it belongs to. Time seems to be moving in slow motion to speed up once more as Sakura grabs Tazuna's arm, leading him to Sasuke's prone form.

"Do not worry," says Haku, still in shock from the death of Naruto. "The Uchiha is merely unconscious."

"Merely unconscious!?" Glares the kunoichi. "How does unconscious classify as a minor enough condition to be refer it to as such?” 

Haku looks up, glaring at her, “It classifies as minor because, unlike Naruto-kun he is not dead!"

Sakura flinches upon hearing his words, reminding of her other teammate's death. She begins to protest, but is silenced when Tazuna puts his hand on her shoulder, shaking his head. She gets the message to hold her tongue.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie sixteen. Yes, yes, y’all get another cliffy of doom because I feel like it. Plus, this seems like a good spot to end it for this time. Hmm, it’ll be fun for y’all to see what happens next of course. Hehes_ **

**_The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	17. Rustle

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Damn, this is getting rather long, but that’s good and normal to happen. i’m having trouble getting away from this story. I feel it’s good for me to have focus on two-three fanfics while in the midst of working on my original book series. It’s just how it is and will be for a while before and onwards._ **

**_Anyway, let’s get on with it. I’m sure y’all don’t want to read my blathering forever. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 17: Rustle**

Kakashi, Zabuza, Haku, Sakura, and Tazuna all whip their heads around to look towards the source. Their eyes fall upon the Mafia boss by the name of Gatou. A huge mob consisting of street thugs gather behind him. It’s almost as if the small group is being outnumbered by the larger. Though there’s still the jinchurriki’s ploy at play here. The tables are possible to turn at any given moment. 

"Looks like the two elite shinobi I hired fail to do what they are being paid for."

Zabuza scowls beneath his bandages. He doesn’t like where the conversation is going. Nope, not one bit. It doesn’t help that Gatou isn’t exactly known for playing fairly.

"Zabuza, Haku, the two of you are fired,” Gatou tells them. Both missing-nins tense for what else they will hear. "Kill them all!"

The mob cheers, raising their weapons in the air. The two jounin and one unclassified shinobi slide into battle positions. Meanwhile, Sasuke has woken up, blinking a few times to regain his focus. The sound of a battle brewing doesn’t bother him, expecting as much though isn’t sure why.

"He's awake,” sighs Sakura in relief, hugging Sasuke.

"Pull the needles out carefully, ok? He’ll be able to move freely," Haku orders, focusing on the mob as she nods to comply. 

The fight has begun in earnest, every shinobi present is doing their best, when everybody hears a quite loud groan before the sound of complaints about a chest hurting like hell. Fighting stops as everyone turns to gawk at the blonde who has previously been presumed dead on account of the gaping hole in his chest. As he stands up, Naruto stretches.

“So, what did I miss?" he asks, grinning like a madman to be enough to unnerve Zabuza and Kakashi, causing to scare the living daylights out of the genin, street thugs, and Tazuna. 

Hakuis simply feeling a wash of relief that his wish has been granted. The people gathering here are even more shocked when Naruto's wounds begin to heal over. A substitute heart forms out of a mysterious red, vile-feeling energy. Blood is being circulated by this red energy, both inside and outside of the body. Within seconds all traces of lesser wounds vanish for the hole that originally goes clean through his chest is nothing more than a deep wound that grows shallower by the second.

"So, what if the brat has some freaky power?" one shouts to break the silence amongst the group. "We'll still kill 'em!" 

Shouts of agreement sound throughout the ranks of thugs, as they ready for battle again. This time of fighting the shinobi has Naruto and the fear factor of a ninja who can rise from the dead on their side. Although Sakura has been hurt badly, needing to sit out.

“Sakura, take Tazuna and run! We'll cover for you,” orders Kakashi, seeing that his bubblegum-haired student is on her last legs.

She begins to protest when Sasuke cuts her off, “Do as he says. Our mission is to protect Tazuna.” 

She nods to comply, leading Tazuna away. The mob starts to try to follow, but they are cut off by ten lines of Naruto’s shadow clones. They stretch the area across the bridge.

"You'll have to go through all of us first!" They shout in unison, going into various attack formations. 

The front line all shift into the same taijutsu position, while the second line takes up a different taijutsu style altogether. The third line all transforms into weapons for the fourth line to catch The fifth and sixth lines. Bothpull out various ranged weapons. The seventh and eighth lines both begin gathering chakra, intending to use ninjutsu. The last two lines take up a defensive position. The battle then at last commences once again, raging until all the clones are gone for several thugs to lie dead or incapacitated. The shinobi aren’t faring all that well though. All except for Naruto are breathing hard, having exhausted their chakra supplies between this fight and the previous ones that hour. Without warning one of the thugs pull out a concealed weapon to stab Naruto in the back, taking out his spine. Naruto knows that he can heal the wound almost instantly or even ignore it, but such an action will require him pulling out so much of Kurama’s chakra that not only will it alert Kakashi that something is wrong. The heart issue can be easily spoken away considering that the Fourth doesn’t want his son to die that easily. Neither does Kakashi with being sworn to protect him. Nor will the fox on the basis of how the same as his excelerated healing, but the spine is going to be obviously intentional, since he has major, not life-threatening wounds before, not having had them heal over in a few seconds). It’ll do severe damage to his relatively untrained chakra coils he’s been stretching earlier, in fact, when he set up a fake heart and the proceeded to heal himself. That’s been when he’s able to only because it has been external circulation of Kurama’s power instead of internally.

"Naruto!" Sasuke gasps, seeing his teammate, once again, fall, rushing over to Naruto's defense as he sees the thugs closing in on him with the intention to kill him.

Naruto looks up when he hears metal clang against metal, to see Sasuke defending him. Opening his mouth to scream and warn Sasuke as he sees a blade slip through the Uchiha's defense, going unnoticed. 

“Watch out,” is all he can manage to be enough, though, as Sasuke notices the sword to jump out of the way of a potentially fatal blow, catching sight of another blade coming seemingly from nowhere as he lands, cutting through his waist to spill his guts onto the pavement. 

Sasuke's eyes widen as he falls onto his knees, his heart trying to pump enough blood into the destroyed section of his body. He collapses onto his chest, blood quickly pooling around him. Something in Naruto's mind shifts as he gazes upon Sasuke's dead body, the raven haired genin's guts are scattering across the pavement, his blood seeps into the stone of the bridge to spread out towards Naruto. A bestial roar escapes from Naruto's throat as he pushes himself up into a crouching position. Claws sprouting from his fingertips while his canines lengthen to sharpen into fangs capable of ripping a human being into shreds. The whisker marks on his face thicken until they form black triangles that touch at the base. His pupils elongate into slits as his irises turn a ruby hue, his gaze strikes fear into the hearts of those gathered round, snarling as beast chakra pours out of him. Everyone there freezes as bloodlust rolls off of the jinchurriki in waves. The sound of bones snapping can be heard snapped toreset as he drops onto all fours, his body adjusts to the feral design of the beast sealed within him. Ignoring how his chakra coils scream in protest, he isn’t going to back down now as more of the volatile individual than they can currently handle is being forced through his system, burning the pathways to nothing more than charred shells. Within his mind fighting Kurama for control. Apparently when his mind is overcome with bloodlust and desire to rip the person responsible for Sasuke's death to shreds causes something in her mind, her soul, or the very pool of tailed beasts that serves to keep her alive has been unbalanced as some undetectable component is being triggered. Now, she’s in a state of mindless rage, trying to force aside Naruto's consciousness so that she can be free to sate her thirst for blood. The blonde jinchuuriki tenses as the fight with his inner demon draws to a close, the outcome becomes clear. Mostly thanks to the natural advantage provided by the seal he manages to withstand and repel her onslaught temporarily sending her back to her previous hermetic state in the back of his mind.

Without warning several of the more idiotic thugs lunge forwards, intent on killing or incapacitating Naruto. Perceiving the threat he acts on pure instinct, springing towards them to catch them off guard. Without a second’s pause he manages to slip past the closest one's weapon, using his newly obtained claws to leave four long gashes in his chest before he can react. Thanks to the poisonous nature of the beast’s energy has the guy to be immediately collapse, going into some kind of seizure before he dies off.

Splattering with the dead guy's blood Naruto leaps at another thug, this time ripping his throat out, spraying blood everywhere. Seeing his speed and brutality, many of the thugs begin to back away, but instead just manage to draw his attention. Twirling in the direction of his targets Naruto uses Kurama with her permission to form a blade extending from his arm out in a radius of fifteen feet. Any and all thugs in his way are cut in half, their blood pooling on the bridge. Growling, Naruto advances on the remaining thugs with the stride of a large predator. Only the bravest and stupidest don’t back away for those who are particularly aggressive or feel like they need to prove something actually steps forwards, clearly challengingthe enraged blonde. Stepping up to the challenge Naruto tenses once more before launching himself forwards with his claws extending towards the foolish ones that desire to throw their lives away for senseless pride.

The resulting fight much more resembles a massacre than anything else. Naruto kills with reckless abandon, not showing a shred of self control or mercy until finally all that is left of the mob is about fifty of the smarter thugs including Gatou himself. The scene filters in through the cerise film that has slipped over Naruto's sight and mind. Something primitive within him realizes that this man is responsible for the death of Sasuke in this timeline. This consists of also the death of Haku in the previous one. Growling loudly enough to be heard on the other side of the bridge, Naruto prowls towards his target, calculating eyes taking in everything. Not giving the Mafia boss or his thugs for hire time to think, Naruto charges. He decimates those in his way with ease, cutting through their ranks like a hot knife cuts through butter. Jumping over the heads of the last line of defense he sticks a claw through Gatou's shoulder, causing the short man to cry out in pain.

"What's the matter, scumbag?" Naruto asks, his voice rough and deep. "Can't take a bit of pain? Weaklings like you don't deserve to be in charge of anything." 

Yanking his arm out of Gatou's torso, Naruto continues, “Not even how you die.” 

Taking pleasure in the panic stricken look that has invaded Gatou's face and eyes, Naruto punches him in the stomach with his left hand. When the man doubles over in pain Naruto kicks him in the shin as hard as he can, resulting in Gatou losing his balance to fall on his back. He quickly pushes himself up onto his elbows to try to frantically scramble back, but is thwarted when Naruto strolls forward to step on his stomach, efficiently pinning Gatou down.

Grinning, Naruto uses the foot that has been resting on Gatou's stomach to kick him in the chin, causing his head to snap back. Fortunately for Naruto's bloodlust he doesn’t break his neck. instead, he just ends up with slight brain damage. Not giving Gatou time to recover Naruto picks him up to sling him fifty feet across the bridge. Gatou lands ungracefully, rolling along the ground after he hits the concrete. By now Kakashi has given up trying to get past the defensive band of the energy radiating off of Naruto settling for watching the kid who’s in Kakashi's mind his most harmless student beat the crap out of a Mafia boss after slaughtering his entire guard force of thugs. He really can’t believe that the kid can be so sadistic. So, he comes to the natural conclusion that Kurama must of either taken over or heavily affected Naruto's actions in some way.

Haku grows worried for his new found friend. Seeing one’s most precious person die defending someone is hard. With the blonde's status as a jinchurriki, he runs a high risk of having his emotions overridden, turning him into a senseless beast to kill everything in his path. Zabuza is watching the massacre along with the following beating with equal terror, but also with fascination. What in all the world is this one anyways? Not only has he come back up from a fatal wound, but is now beating the shit out of one of the most feared men in the world after having slaughtering his guard force. The amount of power and killing intent he is broadcasting is extreme for a seasoned veteran, guessing it’s about nigh impossible for anyone so young. He has heard stories of ninja who are so powerful and bloodthirsty at such a young age, but he believes that this brat is much more terrifying than any of them. After all, with those anyone can feel the power and desire to kill from a mile away. With the blonde though just appears out of thin air. One second he is a do good idiot, the next he is a rampaging powerhouse. And if he can go through such a change so quickly then no one knows what extremes he is precisely capable of?

"Pl-please!" Gatou cries out. “Have m-mercy!"

“Mercy?" he asks, lips curling into a snarl at the mention of it, tightening his grip around his throat. "You want me to have mercy? Tell me, Gatou…..do you show mercy to those who stand in your way? To the inhabitants of the places you take over? Do you show even a shred of mercy towards Inari's father? No! You don’t…. So, don’t expect me to be showing you any mercy any time soon. The beating I'm giving you is far less than someone like you deserves." 

It was times like this when Naruto wishes he had Tsukiyomi. Gatou whimpers as Naruto tightens his grip so much that he cuts off Gatou's airflow. Seeing the short man's distress, Naruto grins as he grabs Gatou's right arm, yanking it out of the socket. He loosens his grip on Gatou's throat as the man screams in pain. Getting bored with beating the shit out of such a weak opponent, the demonic Naruto casually tosses Gatou up in the air before jumping up after him. Appearing right in front of the terrified man, Naruto deals him a roundhouse kick to the stomach, sending him flying off the bridge into the waters below.

Landing, Naruto looks at the ground, closing his eyes. The protective bands of Kurama’s chakra disappear along with Naruto's claws. He shuffles back over to Sasuke's body for all three ninja there to notice that he’s crying, his features having come back completely too normal. Collapsing onto his hands and knees next to his teammate's body, Naruto begins to sink into a pit of despair. 

_I failed_ , he thought, allowing one of his most precious people to die, making the trip back in time worthless in his eyes, wondering if he can’t save those he treasures the most has him unsure what the point of it all is.

Suddenly, he feels a nudge at the corners of his mind, interrupting the turmoil to draw his attention. As soon as he starts paying attention, a searing pain erupts from his stomach. It feels as if someone is tracing the new seal with a white hot knife. The memory of replacing the old Shiki Fuujin seal with the current seal flashes through his head. With it comes the knowledge of the abilities he’s programmed into it, recalling one in particular sticking in his mind. 

_But how is being able to skim through Kurama’s knowledge of jutsu going to help me?'_ he wonders, experiencing a slight blonde moment. 

Half a minute later he realizes what purpose such a thing might serve, feeling the need to slap himself on the forehead for being such an idiot. So, he does such a thing, confusing the now five onlookers. Sakura and Tazuna have indeed returned, seeing that the fight is finally over.

_I'll wonder later how the seal is intelligent enough to remind me,' Naruto_ thought, a bit crept crept out by the idea of a sentient seal. 

Shifting through the fox's stores of knowledge, he tries to focus on medical jutsu to fail at first. Being undeterred, he decides to sort through all of her techniques. Sorting a bit more, he comes across one that he thought he recognizes. It’s the one that Chiyo used to bring Gaara back to life. Accessing the description of it, his suspicions are given confirmation. It’s a jutsu that transfers wounds from one person to another. That will be a fall back in case he can’t find anything else that might prove to be a better option. Naruto continues to search. In less than a second outside of his mind’s time, but in a few hours within his mind, Naruto finds a jutsu that pretty much acts like a defibrillator. If he uses Chiyo's jutsu to heal all of Sasuke's mortal wounds in addition to this one to restart his heart then it might just work. 

Making the decision that using the two techniques in conjunction will be best since he’s unlikely to be able to find a jutsu that can be used to resurrect someone without offering a sacrifice, he goes with this plan in mind. If he just uses Chiyo's jutsu, then his own heart will stop. Due to the nature of the jutsu, it stops when he restarts Sasuke's heart. The other wounds he can take care of with his healing though he probably won’t be able to use anything except for small chakra amounts and very high ratios of Kurama’s chakra until his coils finish up healing. They’ll probably only be half done by the time of the second stage of the chunin exams.

_Well, here goes nothing,_ Naruto thought, once again summoning up a dangerous amount of the beast’s power to use it to activate Chiyo's jutsu, knowing that there is an extremely high chance of this killing him anyway, but it’s the only option that will give him the slimmest chance of living. All five of his spectators gawk when he starts using medical jutsu to heal Sasuke's wounds. 

"Naruto," speaks up Kakashi, stepping forwards tentatively. “It’s too late for that. He's dead."

Shaking his head, Naruto retorts, "I know that, but this isn't an ordinary medic jutsu.” 

Everyone there wonders as to what he means, but then they all notices the blood that has begun to once again drip from Naruto's stomach. 

The blonde explains to them, “It’s a wound transfer jutsu. I've seen it used to resurrect people before."

Sakura and Tazuna gasp when they realize the implications of what the blonde has just spoken about. Before they can do anything he closes up the vast majority of Sasuke's wounds, stopping before he actually comes back to life. Ignoring his audience's curiosity as to why he stops, he starts going through another series of seals. When he finishes he holds out his hand to gather green electricity in it. This is lightning natured medic know-how, the like of which can only be used by dragons, demons, demigods, and deities. All five of the people that are gathered around him are at a loss for words though. Putting his hand to Sasuke's chest, Naruto focuses on not falling unconscious as he sends small jolts through Sasuke's system. The raven's body jerks as he gasps for air, his heart restarting as it begins beating again. Although it’s extremely faint with his breaths shallow. Grinning in relief, Naruto collapses next to him, sinking once again into the darkness of unconsciousness, exhausting his reserves to their limits. Sakura pushes her hair behind her ears, expression worrisome. Both of her teammates are unconscious, unfit to be taken back to Konoha. Taking them to given care of in the hospital of Wave. It annoys her to no end how she has to just sit there and do nothing while Sasuke and Naruto hovers on the edge between life and death. They both have been this way for two weeks.

Walking into the two boy's room after having eaten her lunch, she looks at their prone forms. Questions surrounding both of them are spinning through her head. She has previously thought of Sasuke as invincible, able to go through an entire fight without getting a single scratch. On the other hand, she thought Naruto… All along she'd assumes that he’s a weakling idiot, unable to do anything other than be incredibly annoying. Now, though, if it isn’t for him not only might Sasuke have still been dead, but she and Tazuna might of probably also been killed as well. Shivering as she remembers the power that had been radiating off of him hadn’t felt like normal chakra, feeling inhuman somehow for whatever reason that remains out of her grasp. When she has asked Kakashi about the mysterious power he’s merely told her that it isn’t his place to reveal such things along with that she needs to ask Naruto when he wakes up. 

To top off the mystery surrounding Naruto and the near tragic incident of Sasuke's defeat, the two missing-nins insist on staying around. They, too, want to speak to Naruto. At the least, Haku wants to speak to him while Zabuza just seems to be going along with it.

So lost is she in her thoughts that she doesn’t notice when one of the two boys begins to stir, startling herself when she hears someone call out her name in a weak, scratchy voice. Haku shifts uncomfortable. The black haired genin, Sasuke, has woken up about a week ago. Although Naruto shows no signs of stirring. Both of the jounin have recently been pressuring him to tell them what is going on, for some reason assuming that he somehow knows. All he can tell Kakashi is that he and Naruto are friends that have met coincidentally before this mission. Knowing that he can’t get away with the same excuse to Zabuza, he told the ex water shinobi that everything will be given an explanation when Naruto wakes up. About the blonde's status as a jinchurriki, Zabuza is a bit wary about trusting the Konoha shinobi, but Haku assures him that it’ll be fine. Looking out at the waves crashing against the shore, Haku sighs as he sinks into deep thought.

_One day soon he’ll come out of this. I’m sure of it. Besides, I need to keep faith even when times grow dark._

**_Oks, that’s the end for chappie seventeen. Well, I think it helps to push out as much as I possibly can. Besides, y’all seem to want more of it by the looks of it so far. I think that’s a good sign hopefully._ **

**_Anyway, the next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	18. Breeze

**_Hey y'all! Here we are with the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Hmm, well, at least I'm able to update this fairly often enough. Besides, it keeps me more than regular with updating. So, it's something at least I guess. Hehes_ **

**_I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 18: Breeze**

Several days pass until Naruto wakes up to the beeping of a heart monitor. Opening his eyes, he looks around to take in the sight of a rundown hospital room. The realization hits him that he's alive. Unsure of how confuses him as to how he manages to survive. In all reality he probably might be dead when he took a raikiri through his heart, seeing as how he has yet to build up enough resistance in this timeline to the more harmful aspect of Kurama's chakra. thus, causing this to be a true miracle that he's living long enough to kill Gatou and his thugs for having the chance to resurrect Sasuke.

 _It might have something to do with the new seal,_ pipes up Kurama.

 _Are you simmering down yet?_ Asks Naruto, remembering her return to her original brutality.

 _Yeah… By the way, brat, who gives you permission to sort through my knowledge, huh?'_ she barks, getting angry about it.

Naruto mentally grins at her,  _I did…. Why might the seal have affected whether I live or not?_

 _It seems that it does a better job of filtering and managing my chakra. Unsurprising since it's a higher level of seal,'_ she answers thoughtfully.

Naruto nods, thinking the only reason he's been able to switch the old seal with this one is that Kurama is already sealed up. Fortunately, he recalls how to draw on her vast stores, increasing his stores of energy beyond any human's. There's probably going to be one or two side effects to this.

 _What do you mean?_ Naruto asks worriedly.

_Look down._

Initially, he's hit by confusion. Naruto does as she says, looking down at his hands that rest lightly in his lap. He jumps five feet when he sees the inch long claws protruding from the tips.

 _WHAT THE FUCK?!_ he screeches out within his mind.

 _I'm guessing that, although you can use a hell of a lot more youki without harming or killing yourself…. The seal is going to change your body every time you exceed your current limits for going without excessive harm,_ explains the fox.

Resisting the urge to tell her that that is kind of obvious,  _If you go through enough changes then you'll end up as a hanyou or maybe even a full-blood if you're lucky enough._

 _Well, that's just fucking great,_ grumbles Naruto, not liking this even though he'll lie in the bed he's made for himself.

Being a hanyou does mean an enormous increase in his own power (he'll possibly be able to get himself up to the equivalent of five tails of personal power instead of the human limit of three), better chakra control, and in his potential ability to access Kurama's chakra without killing himself will up to seven, instead of its previous five, It definitely will be almost impossible to hide, even for a half fox demon. Deciding that he's hungry and bored, Naruto gets up out of bed to open the window. Before he can go anywhere he's immediately put to a stop by a voice behind him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kakashi asks, a bit surprised that Naruto is at last awake so soon.

He's been in critical just three weeks ago when they brought him in. Also, he's been in a coma ever since they've gotten him stabalized. Though he still has gone in and out of critical a few times. It hasn't been too surprising when Sasuke woke up so early because Naruto has managed to heal most of his wounds. Besides, Sasuke doesn't have some weird extra presence in his system preventing medic nins on any level below that of a master from healing him. Sadly for Naruto the only medic nins in the Wave are extremely low level.

"To get something to eat! I'm starving," replies Naruto simply.

"I'll get you some food after you answer some of my questions," answers the silver haired jounin, glaring with his one visible eye at him.

Shifting, Naruto asks, "How about I answer your questions over ramen? That'll deal with both of our problems."

"Sure," obliges Kakashi, not really feeling like arguing with Naruto at the current moment, knowing he's just woken up so it's normal for him to be a little irritable.

"Yatta!" the blonde cheers, jumping up in the air. "Let's go!"

Kakashi has to wonder where the hell he gets all of his energy as Naruto zips out of the room via the window. Leaving a hastily scribbled note explaining where Naruto is on the table next to his bed, Kakashi follows after the hyperactive blonde. When they've gotten to the resident ramen stand, Once there, he orders one bowl of pork ramen while Naruto gets his usual of miso.

"Do you mind telling me what happened back there? What's with the claws?" His sensei asks him, dreading the worst of what might be given.

Slurping his noodles, Naruto replies, "I don't really know. I think it has something to do with my furry little friend rapid healing me. If you want to know about the medic jutsus I managed to stumble upon a side effect of the seal that allows me to sort through her knowledge of jutsus."

Pausing in his explanation to order another bowl of ramen, he then continues, "Sadly, most of the jutsus are in some weird language that I don't understand. The claws are a side effect of my body being adapted to her chakra."

His eyes widen a bit, Kakashi asks, "You can sort through her memories? The fox is a she? She heals you?"

Not bothering to confirm the claws though it does bother him that Naruto's body is changing to accommodate the demon. What of his mind then?

"No to the first one you asked me. Yes, yes, to the second two," Naruto tells him, seeing his sensei's confusion to his reply when it contradicts with his earlier statement has him hastening to explain. "I can only sort through the jutsu knowledge. The memories aren't accessible to me. I have no idea why it's like that, though. Oh, before you worry your head off, my mind isn't changing even though I think that my IQ might have gone up a few points."

Nodding, Kakashi thinks that his explanation makes sense.w, "Well, as low as your IQ is it can only help for you to get smarter… What are you going to tell Sasuke and Sakura?"

Giving him one of his trademark fox grins, he reassures, "Leave that to me, sensei, ok? I have the perfect excuse."

Slurping up the last of his noodles, Naruto jumps out of his seat. Landing in the street outside, he takes off. Kakashi briefly wonders as to why until he looks over at where Naruto has been to see a huge stack of empty ramen bowls. The owner is standing there, gaping in astonishment. The silver haired man quietly grieves for his now fairly empty wallet before setting off to go find his other two charges.

()()()()

"Hey! Haku-kun! Zabuza-san," calls out Naruto, running up to the two nuke-nins.

"Hello Naruto. Good to see that you're awake," says Haku, smiling in relief and warmth of seeing him in good spirits.

"Hey, brat, mind telling me why the hell Haku said we need to wait for you to wake up?" Zabuza wants to know, not bothering to hide the contempt in his voice.

"Sure! But not here," Naruto answers, motioning for the two to follow him, not bothering to see if they are behind him before he takes off to head for the forest.

Landing in the clearing where he's been practicing with Kurama's power earlier, he spins around to sit cross legged, "Okay, what do you know already?"

Scowling, Zabuza replies, "Only that you're a jinchurriki. I don't even know whose."

Nodding, Naruto tells him in detail, not skimping on anything because he does want the swordsman to trust him, "I'm the jinchurriki of Kurama, the crown princess of the kitsunes. The claws are a side effect of me getting used to her power. As to what's going on, I have a proposition for the two of you. I met Haku-kun earlier and explained it to him. He agrees, which is why we're friends."

"Go on," Zabuza says, curious as to what might of convinced the loyal Haku to go behind his back along with how a seemingly thirteen year old male can offer a good enough deal to tempt someone like Haku.

"The basic deal is that Haku-kun will help me get myself and my friends out of this mission alive. In reutrn, I'd give the two of you my favor which in just about all circles counts as the fox's favor," Naruto explains, not minding how long it might take. "The extended deal is that I would like the two of you to join an organization I'm trying to form. You two are both very powerful to make valuable additions. I'll be able to get the two of you quite a bit of money. You'll have my full support along with the support of anyone else I can get to joiy. Plus, this includes any non suicidal fox demons."

"Makes sense so far," Zabuza muses. "But why is someone like you who belongs to a village trying to start his own organization?"

"Because that village is full of idiotic blockheads who can't tell the difference between me and Kurama…. No one there has been able to really protect me and help me as far as it serves their needs. That's just one of the reasons why I can't just fall back on my village. I have many reasons for wanting an organization in the first place. The two main reasons are to provide a rally point for jinchurriki and missing nins to combat organizations such as the Akatsuki, the Hogoshakage, the Ketsueki no Kanshisha, and people like Orochimaru."

"Zabuza-sama, there is no reason why we shouldn't help him," pipes up Haku, noticing his master's hesitation. "It can't hurt to be allied to the jinchurriki of one of the most politically and physically powerful beings in this dimension, after all."

After a few moments, Zabuza nods as he knows how governments can hold anyone back, having run into the same problem when he use to still loyal to Kiri. It makes sense that Naruto wants him and Haku of all people on his team.

"Alright. We're in. One question. Have you come up with a place for this organization to meet? We need a way for us to communicate, and a name?" Questions Zabuza.

Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Naruto admits, "I have an idea as to where our home base will be. Though I don't know if it'll work… I kind of have an idea as to how to communicate. I never thought of a name."

 _You have got to be shitting me,_ Zabuza thought, thinking that the blonde has the foresight and intelligence to realize that his home village isn't going to be of much use to him, being a good idea to form an organization behind their backs, but then forgets to actually think his plan through, neglecting such things as a home base and communication system.

"Alright. Where's the home base then?" He asks since he seems to at least have a good idea on that part.

"I'll show you."

**_Oks, that's the end of chappie eighteen. Hopefully you all are liking this so far. It's definitely fun to work on it. Well, at least I'm able to finish revising and updating the story fairly often enough for y'alls reading pleasure._ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	19. Whisker

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. So, this is growing rather long, but that’s a good thing of course. I expected as much anyway. It seems to be well received too. Well, we’ll be continuing off from where we left last time of course._ **

**_Now, let’s get on with it. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 19: Whisker**

Before Haku or Zabuza can express their disbelief, he begins gathering demonic chakra before grabbing onto their arms to teleport the three into the Highway. Going this way, he drags the two off into the abyss. 

“Where are we?" Zabuza asks, looking around at the black void because there’s no light anywhere for yet he can somehow see everybody around him clearly.

Grinning, Naruto replies, “The Highway is where we are. It's a way of traveling instantaneously between places. You can also use it to travel between dimensions. The gathering place I have in mind is a pocket dimension that belongs to Kurama."

"How do we get there, though, Naruto?" Haku asks, noticing all he can see is what appears to be like little pricks of light off in the distance to bring him to the conclusion that there’s no apparent way to travel.

"We just walk. You guys can only see the main Gateways and other travelers. So, all of the various dimensions aren't apparent to you. We just need to travel enough so that we exit this dimension to enter hers," answers the blonde simply. "I can actually only see her dimension though. Without a marker that's encoded to either me or Kurama’s energy I can't tell one area from another."

"Which way is the dimension?" Zabuza asks, his sense of direction is completely thrown off from this place.

"This way,” waves Naruto, motioning for them to follow after him. 

Starting to run in the opposite direction of where he’s been facing. Haku and Zabuza follow closely after him. They travel for what seemed like forever, taking countless steps for the three travelers not even begin to lose their breath or become bored, the time passing as it does when one is meditating as if it doesn't exist. After eternity has come and gone, they arrive in front of an invisible dome that keeps them from going farther. Naruto seems to recognize it, placing his hands on some invisible insignia to channel Kurama’s mana into the dome.

In Naruto's eyes, he places his hands upon a picture of Kurama’s clan symbol. After he channels the required amount of chakra into the dome causes red lines to spread out from behind it, moving in straight lines to form right angles when they turn. The red lines swiftly fill up a circle, causing the entire panel to turn in place. It recedes, leaving a hole in the dome, giving purchase for Naruto to lead Haku and Zabuza through the gap. They have just finally come past the outline of the dome when the panel reforms, preventing further intrusion. The two companions see the same endless void as before, but to Naruto's eyes they are now in a world of ghostly outlines, shapes standing out of the haze. He walks through translucent walls of gray, the unnatural mist clings to him. It feels almost like he’s in a graveyard. Arriving in the main hall of a gargantuan castle in the middle of the small dimension, Naruto once again grabs Haku and Zabuza's arms to drag them out of the Highway and into the pocket dimension.

Currently, now they’re in the main hall of the castle, where visiting dignitaries will be given a greeting first. The ceiling arches up hundreds of feet above their heads. Light comes out from intricately designed chandeliers that hang from the ceilings. Finely woven tapestries hang on the walls, adding even more color to the room.

"What the hell?" Zabuza gazes in wonder of this odd place, knowing that the fox is a crown to a throne, but this is absolutely insane to him with what he’s seeing before his very eyes right now!

"It's designed to be an exact copy of the old capitol of the kitsune society before the Fall of Omorfia,” the voice of a feminine entity calls out. 

All three shinobi turn around to see Kurama in her humanoid form, wearing her usual soldier outfit. Rarely does she ever change into something else depending on the occasion. To have other visitors in her domain is n uncommon thing to occur. Having given permission for Naruto to do this, she knows this will further their plans, knowing she’ll need t get the hang of it having company.

“How do you get out of the cell?" Naruto asks, a little startled by seeing her here.

"This is my dimension. The Shiki Fuujin doesn't take affect here," she explains, narrowing her eyes a little as she gives a sweep over who Naruto is with, giving a nod to see they seem willing enough. "Feel free to stay as long as you wish, but do not damage the place at all."

When her brief speech finishes, she vanishes in a swirl of flame. Recovering from their brief moment of surprise, the three ninja head towards one of the conference rooms in order to talk about what they are exactly planning for the organization.

()()()()()

"Damn, why am I even allowing them to stay here?” Wonders Kurama out loud, staring at her old bed from when she was a little girl. 

It’s astoundingly simple for a royal bed. It’s nothing more than a cot. The room itself is small, the only furniture being the bed, a dresser, a mirror, a chair, and a trunk. The room is decorated with a handful of hand drawn pictures, various items that hold little value in the real world but fascinate a Kurama who used to be no older than the demon equivalent of a five year old back then. What Kurama doesn’t see is the dingy room. Instead she sees it as it had been the night she last saw it in the Universe…

()

_The childish order of the room is ruined, everything in disarray. The drawers are thrown open, clothes strewn on the floor. The room is lit only by an eerie flickering red light. It dances across the ghostly shapes. The outlines of things unnamed can be seen lurking in the shifting darkness, waiting for the unwary. A young girl, small for her age, sorting through the clothes, selecting an outfit that mimics a stable boy's during the time. She picks up a pair of scissors from the top of the dresser and hacks off a large portion of her hair, the long locks falling to the floor. When it’s the appropriate length she grabs several of the items laying around to stuff them into a knapsack before opening the door to run out into the hallway. Screams can be heard drifting down the hall._

()

Forcefully, Kurama pulls herself out of the memory before it can go any farther. It’s no use remembering the events of the past when they only serve to bring about feelings of regret along with an aching loneliness.

“This place… I lied when I said it's an exact copy of the city. Where are the bells declaring the hour? Where are the voices of neighbors calling to each other? The sounds of children laughing and playing, of people content even happy, with their lot in life, where have they gone? This place only looks like Omorfia. It is not nor ever will be the place itself,” laments Kurama, staring at the ground with her hair casting her face into shadow. 

The voice of the vixen conveys a deep sadness that runs further than simple loss, regret, or grief. Gaze still downcast, she walks over to the window. The glass frosts over as snow blankets the city without. It’s always like this in the city of Kurama’s creation. The world is frozen into a repeating cycle of snow. Winter never left while each night it snows. The sun always rises onto a white world of newly fallen snow. Despite the fact that new snow is always falling has the old snow to never melt. The level never rises above a couple of inches, having it always just compact enough for children to play and have fun in. The lakes are all frozen over. Snow carpets the tops of the trees and buildings, turning them from their usual drab selves to wondrous sculptures, capable of fascinating even the adults that use to live in the city, once upon a time.

The stars shine down from the heavens, the night sky as clear as has ever been possible. Lights glow in the city below, pulsing with the music that wafts from every street corner. The smells of home baked goods, ranging from gingerbread cookies to turkey dinners to various cobblers, saturate the air. Laughter and friendly chatter can be heard no matter where anyone is. Children run laughing through the crowds, playing games of tag. Some carry toys from lands far away and/or gifts from soldiers that have come home for the holidays. The carnival and circus are both in town, adding to the merriment. Traveling merchants hawk their goods on the streets, calling out advertisements. Snow covers the city, reflecting the light and sparkling. Snow people and creatures stand all around. In clearings in the woods and parks are forts crafted for epic snow fights. It’s obvious that some of the kids participating have been able to use the snow element, for among the usual are intricate sculptures of both ice and snow. One horse open sleighs are taking people on personal rides through the snowy woods and white fields.

One child in particular stands out. She’s obviously a royal child, for her clothes are rich and extremely well kept, but she’s hanging out with the youngest daughter of one of the many bakers. The middle daughter of a seamstress. The kitsune demon, the tanuki demon, and the snow cat demon are climbing into a sleigh, a snake demon, who looks to be no older than thirteen stands behind them smiling joyously. His grin holds no malice or slyness, only happiness. He converses freely with the three girls. The kitsune referring to him as aniki, despite the obvious difference of species. They all climb into the sleigh, a beautiful thing of red, gold, and white, to settle in. They sing and talk amongst themselves as they ride, occasionally laughing merrily.

Winter always is Kurama’s favorite season as a kid. It’s the time when communication with the outside world is completely cut off. The soldiers come back home from war. It’s also when everyone grows closer for those who have originally been cruel are at the least polite if not kind. It’s a season of almost perpetual holidays, a combination of the beliefs of the many species, demon and otherwise, that inhabit the place. It’s when there’s no school for her to be free to slip away from the troubles of being a bastard of the royal family, playing with her friends.

"I need to stop reflecting on the past,” sighing in resignation, Kurama tells herself this, "It'll only lead to more grief. What's happened has happened. There isn't any way for me to go back to fix the mistakes. There's no way for me to save them."

Before her mind can remind her any more of the events that have occurred, Kurama turns on her heel, gliding out of the room. Heading out into the city itself, she exits the fortress to go to take a ride on one of the open sleighs, in order to try clearing her mind.

_Remember, we can never change the past, but we can change the present to ensure what happened then won’t occur ever again._

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie nineteen. I could’ve made it longer, but I like picking and choosing good spots to ensure the hype buds and y’all will still want to read further about this. Personally, I think it’s coming along quite nicely._ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	20. Divulge

**_Hey y’all! Well, here we are, at chappie twenty it seems. Hmm, my, my, this will grow rather long still. Hopefully you all are enjoying it thus far. I’m kind of….addicted….to working on this. It’s probably partially because I can update this fairly regularly. Plus, I haven’t written any SasuNaru in what feels like ages._ **

**_Anyway, let’s get on with it now. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 20: Divulge**

“Okay, here we are,” says Naruto, grandly sweeping his arms to encompass the entire meeting room. 

The chairs are made out of mahogany. The seat and the back are soft. Pillows upholster in red velvet against the headrest of each one. The table itself is also made from mahogany with a glass center. Small figurines are underneath the glass, ranging from depictions of actual people to geometric shapes. A gargantuan chandelier hangs over the center of the table, consisting of clusters of lights and crystals. It casts fragments of sparkling light over everything. Plain overhead lights are also available for a lighting option. Flipping a switch on the wall, Naruto causes red lines to trace over the floors originating from the walls. The very end of the tremendously long table separates from the rest along with four chairs. It drifts away from the other table to stop five feet from the trio. Walking forward, he sits in one of the chairs, settling back with a small smile. 

“Wow…. This place is fancy! How fucking rich are these people?" He asks, looking around at the decor of the walls, ceiling, floor, and furniture.

Haku and Zabuza both sit down in chairs. Sinking into them has neither of them having ever seen anything this fanciful, not even in the palaces of the daimyos. It also makes them wonder where such a place has gone to and how. Surely such a royal family might protect themselves. Well, with them being demons has them capable of having such access to quite a lot of power. What army has been capable of causing the Fall of Omorfia? Wait and see for an answer perhaps.

"Okay, how is this place for a home base?" Asks the blonde to his two companions.

“We probably will be stupid to not use it. Not only is it in an area that seems to be only accessible to one who can use the fox's chakra, but it seems to be designed to withstand a brutal assault," points out Zabuza, liking the sound of being here than having to relocate. 

He hasn’t failed to notice the various things that will allow the palace to be made impenetrable to enemy attack. "The only problem is getting here and getting into the dome."

Naruto nods, “I can program the dome to recognize your energy signatures. So, you’ll be able to see it, but I can't think of a way to allow you two to travel between dimensions. We'll ask Kurama next time we see her. She might know of a possibility."

The two missing-nin agree to this. Still, they take in their surroundings, trying to get the hang of all of this. It’s something they have given consent to, not ones to back out easily. Besides, Zabuza trusts Haku at least. It’s primarily for the most part why he comes along with him here rather than arguing against it. 

“Okay…. Nowthat’s out of the way….we need a name! How about… I know! The Uber Secret Super Cool…"

Before he can go any farther he’s interrupted by Haku, “Naruto-kun, I think a shorter name might be better. It’ll be easier to remember for people other than ourselves.” 

"Well, then what do you think we name it?" Naruto asks, annoyed that Haku thought his suggestion is no good.

"Why do we even need a name?" Zabuza asks, getting annoyed at the blonde's short attention span.

"So that we can actually do things and recruit new people,” clarifies Naruto for him, thinking it’s kind of obvious.

"Well, because it's an underground organization of shinobi, how about something to do with shadows or the night?" Suggests Haku gently, feeling hopeful at seeing Naruto looking quite thoughtful about it.

"Sounds cool," he says in agreement to this. "But I don't think we just need to name ourselves Kage. What else does the name include?"

"We want it to have something to do with our goal itself," answers Zabuza casually, guessing they’ll be here for a bit to figure it all out.

"So, something about protecting or working together?" Haku asks, frowning when Naruto shakes his head no.

"There's already an organization called the Guardian Shadow, and Working Together Shadow just sounds kinda dumb," he admits.

"Red morning, sailor's warning. Red night, sailor's delight," a feminine voice calls out from thin air for Kurama to materialize in the empty chair next to Naruto, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the table.

"What do you mean by that?" Asks Naruto in confuion, well known for her doing stuff like this in his mind so it doesn’t bother him to much when she does it in her own dimension.

"A red sunrise forewarns danger ahead while a red sunset forewarns calm skies and favorable conditions. Therefore, since Akatsuki is our main enemy and is the Red Sunrise, we need to name ourselves Shinku Higure. It means Red Twilight," she explains to the three shinobi.

Nodding, Haku speaks up, “That’s a good name for us. In conjunction it means a red sunset, telling of good times to come. When separated Shinku refers to the hardship that we have all gone through and Higure means the ideal conditions for shinobi to work in."

"It doesn't really matter to me," admits Zabuza, listening nonetheless to keep up to speed with the conversation.

"Okay then,” shining to the idea, Naruto likes it. "It's all put to rest. We shall be go forth with the name of Shinku Higure.” 

“You guys are wondering earlier about how to travel between dimensions,” interjects Kurama to steer the conversation in another direction, bringing the topic back to something she views as worthwhile. "It's possible to set up a direct Gateway between this dimension and the Universe. Thus, to program it to only allow certain people through unless they have a key or are traveling with someone that can get through. Nobody has invented a portable Gateway yet…. So, any that we build will have to be stationary. It is theoretically possible to design a portable Gateway though."

"How do you make a Gateway?" Naruto wonders curiously.

"Well, first you have to decide where it's going to be," starts Kurama to explain. 

One can tell by the tone of her voice that she knows that she is stating the obvious, doing so on purpose, instigating that her audience can’t quite figure that out by themselves, “Then there are several techniques that will create a bridge of sorts between two dimensions. In order for this to work you must have someone of both sides of the bridge. The final step is to lock the Gateway and hide its presence from those not allowed to use it."

"Okay. Where do you think the Gateway needs to be?" Naruto asks, understanding some of it. "I think we need to have one in my apartment or a similar location to allow easy access in and out of Konoha."

Haku nods, “Makes sense. If I may make a suggestion, it’ll also be smart to create Gateways in other countries than the Fire country. If at all possible we need to have one just about everywhere."

"Haku has a point. That'll allow a quick retreat no matter where we are along with a strategic position from which to attack," concedes Zabuza.

"All the Gateways that are anchored here are suppose to be in the courtyards. There are areas there specifically designed for instant transport. Some of the areas are already taken up, though," answers Kurama as to where to find them here, but she also doesn’t want them intruding any more than absolutely necessary here.

“Alright,” cheers Naruto. "We can create the Gateway to Wave today. It’ll be easy to create a Gateway when I return to Konoha. I don't currently have access to any other countries, though. Hey, do you two want to return to Wave now or stay here?"

"We'll stay here. Just say that we left already or something," Zabuza answers after a bit of thought about it, noticing Naruto nods before he fades into the Highway with Kurama following suit after him.

()()()()()

"Naruto-baka! Where have you been? You’re late!” Yells Sakura as Naruto comes into view. 

She, Sasuke, and Kakashi are all sitting on one of the side railings of Tazuna's new bridge. Kakashi has figured that it’ll be the perfect place to meet up. Still, this will allow them to watch Tazuna even though he doesn’t really needed it now that Gatou is gone.

"Gomen Sakura-chan, but I’ve been talking to Haku-kun and lost track of time,” sheepishly Naruto admits this as he rubs the back of his head.

"Why do you call him 'Haku-kun'?" Asks Sasuke, getting straight to the point of what’s nagging at his mind though there’s more to it than that one question.

"We met a while ago," Naruto begins to tell him, trying to put his worries at ease. "That was before he met Zabuza. He'd wandered into Konoha, having hitch hiked with some traveling merchants. We befriended each other, but then he heard a rumor about some surviving family members of his. He wanted to check it out. He apparently met Zabuza somewhere along the way, and started fighting for him. I didn't see him again until just recently, when we met during the week that we were training to fight Zabuza. We got caught up on a few things. We also agreed that it would be nice if the fight between us could end without any casualties from any side other than Gatou's."

Sakura nods, excepting the explanation to file it away as just one of those weird coincidences that anyone hears about every now and then. Sasuke looks a little suspicious, but is unable to find any holes in Naruto's story. Grudgingly, he accepts that he won’t learn the whole truth anytime soon.

"Naruto, if you knew he’s the enemy, then why didn't you tell us?" Kakashi asks, having noticed that Naruto's words confirm that he’s had knowledge of Haku's status as the mysterious hunter-nin.

Despite an apparent hole in his tale, the blonde is unaffected by the objection, “I didn't deem it important. We only discussed things relevant to the occurrences in our lives and neither learned anything about the other's fighting style or abilities. It also would've impeded the mission if you guys knew that one of the enemies was an old friend of mine.” 

His fox grin destroys the illusion of extreme cunning. He wants his teammates to take him seriously, of course, but he can tell that Kakashi is getting suspicious of him. The last thing he wants is his freedom being given a restriction. Kakashi's visible eye narrows ever so slightly that it’s almost impossible to pick up on. Naruto only notices it because of three years of keeping constant watch for opponents such as Itachi that specialize in stealth, a life time of judging the emotional state of the villagers so that he knows when to get the hell out of dodge, and the fact that Kurama has greatly enhanced his eyes to give him the ability to instantly replay things he’s seen in slow motion within his mind.

Kakashi has narrowed his eyes because of what Naruto is saying and how he’s saying it. If the jounin hasn’t already been suspicious that Naruto is hiding just about everything then Kurama is affecting him, or Naruto has been replaced he might of easily taken the blonde's words at face value, thinking him too stupid to come up with a clever lie. It annoys him to no end that he can’t prove this particular explanation to be truth or fiction. Nobody will noticed one more street brat, knowing Naruto won’t have spoken this lie if he hasn’t at some point run with a black haired street kid. There is also no way to prove or disprove the story that Haku has hitchhiked with some traveling merchants. Plenty of children that have been uprooted by the movement against those with bloodlines in the Mist and other such places have gone to Konoha, having heard of their reverent treatment of those who possess the legendary kekkei genkai. The blonde is such a superb actor that he doesn’t give any outward show of even beginning to deviate from the absolute truth.

"Hey, Naruto, what is that weird power earlier?" Sakura asks hesitantly, knowing on that day she’s seen a side of Naruto not previously shown in that timeline for his mask to slip all the way off to cause his mentality to become consumed by a demonic bloodlust, making him blink before grinning widely. 

“You probably might never believed what happened Sakura-chan,” he soberly admits, eyes lighting up halfway. 

Kakashi can tell that this is an act. No jinchurriki in their right mind will reveal the fact that they have a demon in them unless the situation is dire.

She scowls at him, annoyance evident at the blonde, “Naruto-baka, just tell me already!"

"Alright," he says, still only slightly smiling instead of his usual grin. "I unlocked this really cool kekkei genkai that I'd thought was too recessive in me to show! It's amazing!"

Sakura and even Sasuke are clearly shocked. They never thought that the blonde might have a bloodline. Kakashi is surprised at the simplicity and yet believability of Naruto's lie. There are millions of different kekkei genkai in the world. If one is smart about it then they can easily convince someone with little knowledge of demons that a jinchurriki is not a jinchurriki, simply explaining it away as a possession of a strong and rare bloodline.

"What does it do dobe?" Asks Sasuke, trying to sound impassive, but his tone has a hint of demanding impatience for an answer in it.

Naruto grins again at last, knowing that the lie will get Sasuke's attention, “It has two parts. One allows me to use a special form of chakra that is actually visible and solid. It can be converted into a special element that only advanced users of the bloodline can use.” 

In reality Kitsunebi is easy enough for demons to use, but the nature of the technique isn’t an easy concept for humans to grasp. It’s difficult for them because it generally requires a much greater mastery of the foxes' kekkei genkai. 

"I also have higher chakra control when I use it."

Seeing that he has his audience's undivided attention, Naruto continues, “The other part is actually a doujutsu that deals with memory. It allows me to record what I see and replay it in slow motion in my mind. Because it's a mental thing I can replay what I want to see in nearly an instant. I can also skim through what I've memorized for certain things. There's supposedly an ultimate form of the doujutsu that allows me to access someone else's memories and sort through them. Unless I'm really good at memory sorting what I learn will be forgotten as soon as I release the genjutsu. The purpose of the technique is really to replay the person's own memories to them, rather than information gathering. One of the clan jutsus actually allows the user to show the victim the users memories, whether fabricated or not. It can be used to implant false memory. I don't actually know how to access the ultimate level just yet."

His teammate's eyes widen at hearing all of this. Sasuke fully understands the implications of what Naruto has said. This mysterious kekkei genkai is another of the three Densetsu no Gengan, of an equal level to his sharingan. From the description it sounds like the kekkei genkai that’s bound to the kitsune clans along with those human clans that descend from them just as the sharingan is tied to the Uchiha’s. But he’s never heard of a human clan with the kekkei genkai, knowing the only carriers are a handful of the oldest and/or the most powerful foxes, of a specific line of kitsune which the only member he knows of is Kurama.

"How does a dobe like you have the Nagorigan?" Sasuke wonders, his eyes beginning to flicker between his regular onyx and the ruby color of the Sharingan.

“I don’t know," admits Naruto, shrugging. "The integration was so long ago that the kekkei genkai has been diluted so much that by a century ago it ceased to be a kekkei genkai. It makes no sense that I suddenly develop it unless the gene becomes recessive instead of disappearing. All four of my grandparents passed on the gene to my mother and father who in turn passed it on to me. That's still a lot of 'if's and bloodlines rarely become recessive. They're almost always dominant or nonexistent."

Slowly, Sasuke nods. His explanation makes sense. There are plenty of clans in which the bloodline has become diluted, sinking to the level of mere clan jutsus such as what has occurred in the Aburame, the Yamanaka, the Amakichi, the Nara, and the Inuzuka clans. It’s also theoretically possible for a supposedly extinct bloodline to resurface a hundred years down the line. Sakura just looks confused. She remembers something from the fight with Zabuza about the Densetsu no Gengan, but she'd been too scared at that point to really listen. If Naruto's doujutsu is an illusion eye of legend like Sasuke's sharingan then it’s possible that it means that Naruto's is just as powerful? Her mind, having been transfixed on Sasuke for so long, almost short circuited at the thought. It’s not possible! Naruto's doujutsu must be weaker than Sasuke's, but tha’ts just what she thought in order to deny the truth. Kakashi is surprised still for another reason altogether. 

"Sasuke, how do you know of Naruto's bloodline?" It’s rare for information to be kept on extinct or extremely rare, bloodlines, having it be he swears that Naruto is making the story up. 

Sasuke looks away from his teacher, obviously not wishing to share that particular piece of information, "The Densetsu no Gengan are one of the things I studied as an Uchiha even if the sharingan is supposedly the only one that's actually been proven to still be in existence or it use to be…. Anyway, you never know who might get a hold of what, and what weird occurrences might come to pass. The Densetsu no Gengan are unbeatable in their ultimate form unless you also have one that's been trained to an equal level. As long as the only Densetsu no Gengan are located within the Uchiha clan…. We destroyed all missing-nins that decided to leave. We’d have an absolute advantage in the battle field. I’ve never thought it might be necessary though since the other two are thought to have died out over a century ago, like Naruto said. They're only still called the three Densetsu no Gengan because there has been exactly three for thousands if not millions, of years."

Kakashi can instantly see the logic behind the Uchiha clan's actions. If a missing nin goes to another country then they can not only use their sharingan against the Uchiha clan, but can also give rise to another group of sharingan wielders, taking away the Uchiha's natural advantage from their ultimate form. Whatever it is from Naruto's various descriptions. it’s probably genjutsu orientated. Someone has to be a moron to knowingly put themselves in their line of fire. 

"Um, but I've never heard of a kekkei genkai with two parts before," says Sakura, still in the veil of confusion about all of this. "How is that even possible? It isn't physically possible to have two bloodlines active. The genetic code that causes the bloodlines to form in someone isn't capable of retaining its human nature and being that complex at the same time."

Both Sasuke and Naruto tense because she has managed to stumble upon a point that neither of them wants raised.

"Just because something has never happened before, or it's so rare that it isn't known about, doesn't mean it's impossible," raises up Naruto in defense although after a moment's pause he grins to decrease the effect of his words.

Sakura looks a little embarrassed, “Ok, you got me there I guess.” 

Sasuke relaxes, seeing that Sakura and Kakashi have accepted Naruto's scrambling for a way to throw doubt on Sakura's realization. It really won’t do if anyone discovers any more about his clan's history than they already had. Naruto probably already knows a few of the shadier parts since he has a similar bloodline.

"Hey! You four!” Tazuna calls out. "It's getting dark! What do you say we go home for dinner?"

Team 7 and their sensei all look at Tazuna, realizing how late it is and how hungry they are. Before barely a second has passed after Tazuna's declaration, Naruto jumps up in the air, ears perking up at the sound of it. 

“Yay, food!” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie twenty. I apologize if it’s a little short. That’s just how it is here. I hope you all enjoyed though._ **

**_The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	21. Flutter

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Yeps, I’m working hard to push out chappies for this as soon as I can. It’s just because I know people seem to be enjoying it. So, I might as well ensure y’all have plenty of reading fodder of course. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 21: Flutter**

_A Few Days Later_

"Good luck you guys. Have a super journey home,” says Tazuna, smiling at his guards for the past four weeks. 

The bridge is finally done. All of Wave has shown up to say goodbye to the heroes of the island. Everyone shows their gratitude for keeping the builder safe all this time.

"Keep a good eye on Naruto,” Tsunami calls out, knowing how rambunctious the blonde can be.

"Don't worry, we won't let him get into too much trouble,” reassures Kakashi, wanting to get away so he can continue reading his book. 

He’s just at the good part too. Hikari is just about to admit her undying love for Tsukimaru. He can definitely feel it. After that, knowing the characters, there will be a scene plenty full of ‘steamy action'.

"Bye Inari! Bye Tazuna! Bye Tsunami! Bye minna-san!”shouts out Naruto, waving to them all as they leave. 

Inari sniffer, sad that his friend is leaving. He isn’t going to cry though he hopes. Being done with that phase of his life once and for all, Inari wants to grow up to be strong enough to become a hero too.

"Bye Naruto-niisan!" Inari replies, his voice conveying his regret that Team 7 has to leave.

"Bye!" the inhabitants of the Wave call out as the four shinobi that will forever be remembered in Wave history turn to begin to walk away.

"Hey, what should we call the bridge?" one of the workers asks.

Tazuna grins, happier than ever, “I think we can call it… The Great Naruto Bridge! In honor of the hero that single handedly defeated most of Gatou's army and killed Gatou himself!" 

A collective cheer raises from the crowd at his words. They obviously approve of his choice. Inari's sniffles turn to barely muffled sobs as his grandfather looks down at him. 

"Hey, Inari, don't worry! We'll see your friend again soon,” he reassures gently. 

Both Tsunami and Inari are confused by this, but Tazuna hastens to explain, “Kakashi told me that the chunin exams are soon. He’s going to be entering Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke in them. We can go watch them in the finals to cheer them on. We can also later on speak with them!"

Inari grins when he hears the plan. That’s a great idea! It’ll be cool to see Naruto fight and win in the finals. Anticipating it, he can’t wait for when that’ll happen in a couple of months more or less. The memories will still stay with him of what Naruto and his comrades have done for him and the rest of Waves.

()()()()()

"Finally! We're back home!" Exclaims in Sakura in relief. 

She’s been prohibited from bringing the vast majority of her cosmetics and various things that she perceives that make her look prettier in some way even though she’s beautiful without it. Instead she has been told to fill up a handbag with her make-up. If she dares to bring any more along then it might of been tossed out. Some of it has been expensive, not wanting to take any chances. Naruto isn’t nearly as overjoyed, having no wish to return to his empty small unkempt apartment. The blonde has enjoyed sleeping on a real bed in a real house with his teammates and friends not too far away. It has been fun eating dinner, occasionally breakfast, and lunch at the kitchen table with the others. It’s the closest Naruto has ever been to knowing what it feels like to have a real family. His sensei and both of his teammates picks up on his mood. 

"What's got you down Naruto?" Kakashi asks gently, seeing him being quiet and thoughtful, but he never expects to see the cheerful blonde looking almost sinking into depression.

Adjusting his backpack straps before replying, he tells him, “I just guess I got used to waking up to someone actually being in the house with me. I'm going to miss it is all.” 

Trying to put it in a joking tone, his voice tells of nothing except slight remorse. His eyes match the same bittersweet mood. The only thing that might of betrayed deeper emotions is a brief darkening of the eyes, transforming them slightly into a more indigo shade rather than their usual sky blue. His grin and body posture speaks of optimism though. Not seeming to weigh down. So anyone will only notice that he’s acting if anyone is observant enough. This includes those who know him well. Kakashi picks up on the minor change in the shade of Naruto's eyes, but doesn’t know what it means, thinking nothing of it.

It’s slightly disturbing that Naruto has been acting in such a way that he might of sworn is severe depression. The words he speaks hint at such, but his tone of voice and body posture at the moment say something completely different. Sasuke feels a slight pang of something in his heart upon hearing what the blonde has to say. No, it’s not pity. He’s had a far harsher life than he has, being sure that anyone doesn’t pity those who are better off than the other person. It’s more like he feels that he can relate almost. He, too, won’t have anyone to say good morning to him when he wakes up or to talk to at meals.

"Well, ja ne! I've got somewhere to go,” announces Kakashi, breaking the awkward silence as he waves to disappear in a poof of smoke.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun," squeaks out Sakura in what she thought is a seductive manner. “Do you want to go on a date with me?" 

Looking over at her crush, who she’s certain feels the same way about her, but is too shy to admit it. It just means she has to help him, not expecting him to be ignoring her though. Instead of his lips forming the words to accept her invitation all she sees is his back as he walks away to the Uchiha manor. Sakura hears footsteps starting behind her, turning to the source she sees Naruto start sprinting after Sasuke. She at first expects him to scold the raven for being rude to her as he surely might of in the Academy, but instead he just falls in step beside the third member of their team.

()()()()()

“Kakashi, you said something earlier about the mission rising in difficulty suddenly. Explain,” commands the Hokage.

Sensing that the Hokage is serious, Kakashi pockets his little orange book as he looks at the old man in the eye, explaining the attack by the two demon brothers. This also includes how Naruto in particular has acted. The Sandaime Hokage is clearly feeling a conflation at hearing this news, understanding why Kakashi and his team hadn't turned back. Doing so would've been immoral and his team would've probably complained, knowing Sasuke and Naruto. Also, Tazuna would've certainly been doomed. But he’s heard of Gatou and his recent demise, knowing that he wouldn't have been an easy opponent to defeat. Naruto's skill level is also uncanny. A genin isn’t able to detect a chunin; especially one who’s training as an assassin.

"That's where it starts to get strange,” says Kakashi, causing the hokage to raise an eyebrow in question. "Our client misinformed us of the mission. He was building a bridge to the mainland, which would destroy Gatou's monopoly. The weird part of that is that Naruto somehow knew about it ahead of time. He’s been able to figure out that anyone; especially a bridge builder requesting an escort to Wave probably wasn't worried about bandits so much as assassination attempts from Gatou. He knew enough about the amount of control Gatou has over Wave and even of the small rebellion that's trying to undermine him by finding alternate means of transport. That isn't even in files kept for shinobi usage…. So, there’s no way he could've gotten that information unless he has connections in the underground."

The Hokage sits back in his chair to let it all sink in. It’s indeed disturbing that the blonde knows fairly well of the fact that it has been a falsely ranked mission ahead of time. The mystery surrounding the blonde just grows ever deeper along with being more complex every time he tries to figure it out. 

"Why hasn’t he inform you of this before you were all attacked?” Inquires Sarutobi.

"He said he was bored and wanted a real fight apparently. He was confident in his ability to win. He then switched the subject from his motives to the fact that we were already committed. Also, he managed to get Sasuke and Sakura to agree with him," reports Kakashi, going on to explain the events that lead up to just before the fight with Zabuza.

The Hokage has been surprised when Kakashi says that Naruto is able to sense two chunin that specialize in the art of assassination. He’s actually assumed that it’s a survival instinct that he’s picked up from Kurama. But to be able to sense a jounin that specializes in the silent killing technique? Either Naruto is skilled on his own or that is one hell of an instinct, unable to this stunned since Naruto used his Sexy no Jutsu to steal the Forbidden Scroll. After pausing to let the Hokage absorb what he’s said so far Kakashi continues, telling the Hokage of Naruto's knowledge of the sharingan along with how he has been able to trick Zabuza.

_Troubling,_ Sarutobi thought in concern, furrowing his brows in contemplation about all of what the report entails. 

Settling back to listen to the rest of Kakashi's report, he’s especially shocked by the fact that Naruto has befriended Haku beforehand. He agrees with Kakashi that the story sounds a little fishy. Though it also feels disturbing how Naruto has seemed to shrug off the fact that he slaughtered upwards of a hundred people even if they were low life thugs.

"Kakashi, do you think it's possible that Naruto got information on the mission from this friend of his? They might have coordinated it specifically so that they might have a chance to meet face to face," suggests the Hokage.

Kakashi's visible eye widens because he hasn’t thought of that possibility. But how can that have come to pass? Before he can ask any questions the Hokage continues with what he needs to say to the jounin, knowing that Kakashi has a past with being a former student of the deceased Fourth Hokage. 

“Naruto came in shortly before I assigned the mission…. He specifically requested a higher level mission. He gave good reasons for such. I granted his request. His wording lead me to decide to choose a lower level mission that genin would be able to easily accomplish. If they failed a jounin would be able to do. The Wave mission is of course the best choice,” elaborates the Hokage to him through his musings.

The Hokage is right. The whole thing sounds a bit off. But why does Naruto go out of his way to arrange to meet with a cohort of a missing nin even if they have known each other?

Before Kakashi can muse any more, The Hokage captures his attention, "Hatake Kakashi, I'm going to assign you the at the least A-ranked mission of observing Uzumaki Naruto to find out what's going on. The mission may rise in level at any given time without warning."

The jounin is mildly surprised. After all, it isn’t everyday he gets assigned a mission to spy on his own student. Then again it isn’t everyday he has the jinchurriki of an extremely powerful and intelligent demon as one of his students either.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," obliges Kakashi, taking his mission scroll before poofing off to his apartment.

()()()()()

Naruto has to jog slightly to catch up to Sasuke. Knowing that unless Murphy has decided in the past five minutes to actually cut Naruto some slack for once it won’t do any good to ask Sasuke out on a date. It probably might only serve to creep the raven out to make him even more withdrawn from Naruto. So, the blonde just walks silently along.

"Why are you walking beside me?" Asks Sasuke after a minute or two of the two of them strolling towards the Uchiha compound.

Pouting, Naruto replies, “‘Because I feel like it, teme! I can do whatever I want.” 

Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke merely ‘grunts in response to this. Strangely enough, he finds it kind of slightly cute when the blonde pouts in such a childish manner. Sorrowfully that he hasn’t managed to entice an actual conversation out of his crush, Naruto lapses back into silence. It’s quite comforting, actually. The birds flying around chirp merrily, adding to the background noise of the village itself. The walk also gives Naruto time to relax, clearing his head of any circling anxieties. It won’t do any good to be stressed out while he’s trying to decide how to save his precious people, after all.

Hearing the chatter of the various creatures, mainly birds, which has originally surrounded them suddenly stop, Naruto halts in his tracks. As a street child he’s learned to avoid the Uchiha manor. Only civilians and ninja dare to venture near. Street kids, wild animals, and strays all keep a good distance for evendomesticated animals are extremely uneasy around the place. There’s something not right that hangs in the air that always has. Perhaps it’s the cloying touch of the past, knowing death still haunts the halls of it from that fateful day many years ago.

“Why are you stopping, dobe?" Sasuke wants to know.

Naruto looks around nervously, knowing that this place has that effect on him, “Just habit, I guess.” 

Sasuke can see that it isn’t all that sincere though. Knowing that Sasuke can tell he’s fibbing has Naruto drop his grin, guessing he needs to tell him something to placate his curiosity about what he truly feels. It’s not something he wants to do, but guesses that he needs to in order to build enough trust between them. 

“Street kids are given a warning by each other to not go near the compound is all. I grew up with that pounded into my head. Never go any nearer than where the birds and other creatures go. Don’t you ever notice the fact that no undomesticated animals will go near the place?” Asks Naruto simply.

Sasuke shakes his head, “It’s been that way forever. Why do I need to take note of it? Why do you have a street kid's warning imprinted in your mind?"

Sighing, Naruto has been wishing that his past will never, ever come up in a discussion. Further proof that Murphy loathes him or just takes sadistic pleasure in torturing him. Though he guesses that he needs to divulge some of it in order to further please the Uchiha, not wanting him to poke any further about it after this hopefully. It’s not a given that it won’t be given a prod at again, but at least he can speak about it now in the midst of someone that he trusts well enough.

"I spent several years as a kid on the streets. I ran away from the orphanage I was staying in at the time when I was three. I wasn't able to get an apartment until I was six," he tells him, staring at the ground as his hands hang limp by his sides. 

Sasuke can tell that it isn’t a subject Naruto likes to bring up. Probably he might never have guessed that Naruto has lived on the streets at anytime.

"Well, see you tomorrow then, dobe," says Sasuke, turning to leave to go back to his haunting, empty clan compound.

Seeing Sasuke walk away, Naruto hesitates for a split second before calling after him, "Wait! Sasuke!"

The raven turns back to face Naruto, looking slightly annoyed, “What is it, dobe?"

Naruto has absolutely no plan whatsoever for him to make up something on the spot, “We haven't gotten paid yet for our mission. I’m hungry….. I’ve been wondering if you might be able to buy me some ramen?” 

It’s true. He’s indeed rather hungry. Although he can stand it. They also haven’t gotten paid yet for the completion of their mission. Naruto is out of money due to trying to barely manage to pay his rent. Not wanting to impose on the kind owner of Ichiraku Ramen, he hopes that his teammate might be able to help him out.

"Dobe, why can't you use your own money?" Sighs Sasuke out of slight annoyance.

"Because I'm broke, teme…. Unlike you, I actually have to pay rent…. The landlord drove up the prices again recently. I haven't had enough extra money after paying bills and everything to buy food," he sheepishly explains out of embarrassment that he has to admit to being dependant on his friends.

Sasuke has actually never taken into consideration that Naruto might be out of money, “Hey, dobe, how do you get by before you became a ninja?" 

The blonde might of been paying for food, rent, and bills out of his own pocket. Academy students don’t get paid.

"Ichiraku-jiji usually gives me a free meal every now and then. Iruka-sensei has helped me get some of the necessities such as clothes. I also receive a monthly pension from Hokage-jiji that used to pretty much cover the rent although that's probably going to stop soon now that I'm a ninja. Anything that wasn't covered by charity I either did without, scavenged, or stole. I was never good at begging. So, that’s not an option," Naruto replies nonchalantly although despite the outward appearance of not caring he inwardly is struggling hard to not look angry or annoyed at past situations.

Sasuke has officially learned something about the blonde that he has never suspected. Well, Uzumaki Naruto is known as the most surprising shinobi.

"Fine, dobe, I'll buy you something to eat since if you starve to death I'll just end up stuck with an even less useful teammate, if that's even possible," declares the Uchiha, not showing any reaction to the recent revelation about his teammate. "But I'm not buying you ramen. If you don't eat healthily. Your body won't be able to function as well as it can because of malnutrition."

Naruto is overjoyed that Sasuke has accepted his offer. Although it does trouble him that Sasuke wants to buy him something other than ramen. The owner of Ichiraku Ramen is the only one that doesn’t serve him spoiled food, not overpricinghim. 

“But Sasuke!" he whines, eyes growing wide. “I want ramen! Not anything else!"

Sasuke scowls at him, not about to buy anything as cheap as ramen, "No. It's bad for your health to eat ramen every day.” 

The raven doesn’t even know why he’s bothering to buy his blonde teammate any food whatsoever. Normally he usually just ignores the blonde to keep on walking. What is up with him recently? Deciding to stow that away for further contemplation later, he guesses that he’ll sort it out later when he has some alone time. Itachi always told him that emotions aren’t necessary. That they only get in the way. But what if he’s wrong? What if his older brother has been telling him lies all along to protect him?

"But Sasuke! Ichiraku Ramen is the best…. Their ramen has healthy stuff in it, too! I'll even buy a vegetable ramen if it'll get you to take me there,” pouts Naruto. 

Sensing that the blonde isn’t going to back down any time soon, Sasuke sighs, "Fine, but only because I don't feel like standing here for hours on end arguing with you. Now come on."

“Yay!” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie twenty-one. It’s just oh so adorable how Sasuke and Naruto interact at times. Hmm, perhaps why this is still on my favorite ships list. I think this one works all too well for this story. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	22. Spiral

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Hmm, well, here we are still in the twenties thus far for this, but I can assure it will grow longer the further we progress with this. Hehes_ **

**_I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 22: Spiral**

Sasuke sighs, “Sometimes I wonder why I bother….” 

Cheering in glee, the blonde in question jumps up in the air, "Ramen, here I come!" 

Not wanting to annoy Sasuke too much Naruto merely runs circles around the raven rather than drag him towards the shop like he’s inclining to do.

"Here we are,” announces the energetic blonde, ducking into the shop while Sasuke strolls in with a nonchalant air around him.

"Hey! Naruto-kun! Who's your friend?" Ayame asks, seeing her favorite customer come in with the last Uchiha in tow. 

She’s of course caught wind of the only surviving member of the Uchiha clan that isn’t a missing-nin, but she feels that it proper to let Naruto introduce him.

"This is Sasuke-teme,” says Naruto, giving a small smile. "He's my teammate and going to buy me ramen.” 

Ayame smiles kindly. She knows that the blonde has been extremely low on money recently, feeling happy that he has a friend that’s willing to treat for him, "That's so nice of him. You have warned him about your appetite I hope."

Naruto grins, “He knows. He's seen me eat."

Sasuke feels the need to slap himself, but resists the urge. How can he forget the amount of food that Naruto regularly consumes? Too bad he’s already given the promise to buy Naruto something. Well, he can always regain the money he uses. Besides, he wants to do this to at least show he’s not all that heartless.

"What are you going to have?" the old owner of the store asks, smiling warmly, feeling happy as well that Naruto has managed to increase his circle of friends.

"Sasuke-teme said that he’ll only buy me ramen if I ate something healthier than what I normally get. So, I'll have one vegetable and one miso,” answers Naruto, looking annoyed when he recaptures Sasuke's enforcement of nutrition.

"I'll have one miso," says Sasuke, flicking his gaze over at the jinchurriki, giving him an encouraging nod to reassure that he’s done well. 

Ramen really isn’t his thing, but it’ll be rude to buy Naruto something and to not have anything himself. The old man nods, smiling. He quickly makes the ramen, setting it before the two males.

“Itadakimasu,” says Naruto before digging in as Sasuke repeats Naruto's words, but at a much softer volume while he also eats far slower.

Naruto has finished both bowls to order a third by the time Sasuke is halfway through. Naruto is finishing his fifth when Sasuke finishes his first. True to his word two of Naruto's five bowls of ramen have been vegetable and one has been shrimp. Putting the acquired amount of money down on the counter, Sasuke put his hands in his pockets to walk out of the store, Naruto scampers after him. The two walk in silence for a bit.

"See you tomorrow Sasuke!" Says Naruto when they arrive at where they had been continuing to walk together which takes Naruto far off from his course home. 

He already has gone in the opposite direction for more than enough distance. Sasuke simply hn'ed to wave at Naruto. It’s more of a reaction than the blonde has anticipated, causing him to smile widely. Seeing his raven haired teammate round the corner to go out of sight, Naruto starts running towards his apartment. Eating with Sasuke has been fun, but the chunin exams are soon. He wants to get the portal established in his apartment before he gets too busy with training and planning.

_Are you sure that no one's going to notice your chakra being used?_ Naruto asks Kurama for the umpteenth time. 

Currently, she’s managing the seal around his apartment that will prevent anyone from noticing the opening of the Gateway, since Naruto only has close to that level of chakra control when he’s out of regular chakra. Using a shitload of her power which not only can he not due because of his chakra coils, but it’ll be noticeable instantly. Pushing it as it is, she ensures that he won’t be put into immediate danger.

_A seal designed to disguise chakra that has a chakra signature of its own and also tells who is making it will be extremely counter intuitive, don't you think so?'_ she replies simply, not minding him being a little anxious about all of this. 

To her the answer to Naruto's question is quite obvious, having to wonder how the he has had such a huge paranoid moment as to ask such a question. It doesn’t bother her though, knowing he needs reassurance at times. It’s normal when dealign with matters such as this than normal shinobi matters.

_Oh, yeah. Heh, I kind of forgot,_ Naruto answers sheepishly. _Anyway, what's the first thing I need to do again?_

_I'm going to send you a mental picture of a seal. Draw it in blood on the floor,'_ she instructs for him, being patient when dealing with her host. 

Haku and Zabuza are currently doing the same in the courtyard of her dimension, if they haven’t already finished. Due to how she can’t be in two places at once, she’s left them a list of instructions instead to follow aside from how she’s helping out Naruto with close precise guidance.

_Now, write these kanji in the lit up places,_ she continues to instruct, needing this to be done carefully so as not to mess up anything as the parts of the seal start to glow in Naruto's mindscape.

When Naruto finishes drawing the kanji he steps back to admire his handiwork. The seal consists of several rings of different shapes and sizes. The outermost ring is a heptagon with all seven sides exactly equal in width and length. The second ring is a hexagon. It somehow manages to intersect the heptagon at all of the hexagon's corners without touching the outermost ring anywhere else. Inside the hexagon while inside that is a square. The second to innermost rings take the shape of a triangle. The tip rests at the junction of two of the square's sides. The other two angles rest in the middle of the remaining sides. The very innermost ring is a circle that’s designed to mimic a compass rose. The kanji for 'north' is pointing towards where the tip of the triangle is, the other four directions spaced accordingly. Strangely enough on the north side it’s possible to draw a straight line from the kanji and through the other rings at each ring intersecting an angle.

The kanji for 'hide', 'transport', and 'safe' are imprinted in between the circle and triangle. There’s one at each corner. These kanji insure that the Gateway will remain hidden from those not meant to find it. This will actually take them to their destination, not closing on them while they are traveling. Adding a few finishing touches to the seal Naruto gathers chakra in his right palm while gathering demonic chakra in his left. Using an external circulation system to give his chakra coils a break, his arm gets mildly burned, but it’s better than charring his coils again. He also has to use a bit more than he normally does for his control to become shakier than normal. The chakra will be used to connect to Haku while the demonic energy will automatically seek out to enter Kurama’s dimension. Slamming his open palms on the ground Naruto activates the jutsu, causing the seal to glow a bright scarlet hue.

Naruto's head feels as if it’s about to be cloven in two as the seal begins carving a bridge through the void towards its twin. His chakra finally connects with Haku’s while Kurama’s power latches onto the dimension. He can feel the void which they’ve strung a thin line of mixing chakra across begin to lessen as it’s filling the pathway expanding. It goes just as it has in Wave, the bridge finally stabilizes for it to set in place. The seal pulses one last time before disappearing. The blood has mysteriously gone away in the jutsu although if Naruto has to hazard a guess he probably might say it’s woven into the structure of the bridge along with Haku's blood in order to further strengthen it.

The Gateway shimmers for a few seconds before fading from sight. Naruto can still sense it though. He’ll be able to reopen it at any time. Kurama cancels the energy shield. Now that the jutsu is over there’s no chance of anyone detecting anything. Exhaustion sweeps over Naruto as he collapses on the couch before falling into a deep sleep. If he hasn’t been so wounded, he probably might of been able to stay awake, but he’s fatigued his chakra supply in an effort to minimize damage.

_You’ve done well, kit. Now, rest up. You’ll need it._

()()()()()

"Naruto, you’re late,” accuses Sakura at him. 

Naruto has once again come two and a half hours after the assigned meeting time, anticipating their sensei's lateness. He can sense that Sasuke has only been there for a short while too. Although Naruto doubts that the Uchiha has been yelled at. Sakura is actually now the only one on their team that arrives at the appointed meeting time. They settle down into silence after about ten minutes of talking. Thirty minutes after Naruto arrives has Kakashi sensei appearing with a poof. 

"Hey guys,” says the silver haired man. "I've got a meeting to go to. So, you three have the day off. Ja ne!"

"Well, at the least he let us know," comments Naruto, referring to the fact that it’s more in their sensei's nature to just not show up that day if he has something come up, leaving the team to figure it out on their own. "Why don't we go train ourselves?"

“Hn,” grunts Sasuke in agreement, causing Sakura to nod her head vigorously. 

Normally the raven might of preferred to train on his own, but he needs to improve his newly gained sharingan. The best way to do that is to train with either Kakashi or spar against someone else who has a Densetsu no Gengan. He decides to go with the second option. The trio starts walking towards the training ground, not feeling any need to rush. As they walk their way through Konohamaru. Noticing that his two friends, Udon and Moegi, run up. 

"Hey, boss!" Konohamaru greets. 

He’s met Naruto shortly after the blonde has graduated. The blonde has helped him realize that he needs to work hard if he’s to become Hokage someday too.

“Wanna play with us?” Asks the grandson of the current Hokage of their village.

Turning to the three kids, Naruto sighs, “Sorry guys, I need to go train. I'll play with you later."

"But Boss! We're bored…. Before you left on that really long mission you promised that you'd play with us when you got back,” Konohamaru protests. His two followers nod in agreement.

Sakura snickers at the blonde's predicament, knowing that Naruto is too much of a nice guy to upset the kids. But when she does this she draws attention to herself. Konohamaru sees her to instantly assume that such a pretty girl will be the kind his Boss might go out with. Of course any girl might jump for a chance to date his Boss.

Grinning, Konohamaru indicates Sakura to ask as he says the last part he extends his pinky finger which is the Japanese sign for girlfriend, "Hey Boss, who's she? Is she your girlfriend?" 

Seeing Sakura get angry, Naruto waves his hands in front of him, "No! It's not like that! I wouldn't date her!" 

“Naruto-baka!” Glares Sakura, brandishing her fists. 

Both Naruto and Konohamaru start running, Sakura right behind them. As they round a corner Konohamaru bounces off of something that isn’t suppose to be there. Looking up he sees that the something is a someone. By the looks of it this individual is a shinobi from Suna to be exact.

"Hey, brat, look where you're going,” Kankurou snarls, hoisting up the kid by the front of his shirt as Konohamaru starts struggling, but is unable to shake the puppet master's grip.

Naruto has rounded the corner just after Konohamaru. He has seen the collision, briefly startled that he’s lost track of time so much, but regains his bearings quickly. Sakura follows soon after him. She too sees the Suna genin threatening Konohamaru. Moegi and Udon run up just after she does.

"Hey! Put him down!" Shouts out Naruto, anger creeping into his tone.

"Heh, why do I need to, you little squirt? This brat has been rude enough to run into me…. He therefore needs to pay the price,” says Kankurou, tightening his grip on Konohamaru. 

In reality he isn’t mad at the Academy student, normally might of ignored him, but right now he’s furious at Gaara. The fact that they have to work with the unstable jinchurriki on such a high profile mission is troublesome indeed.

"Kankurou, calm down! We don't want to start anything,” says Temari, trying to keep her brother from getting them in trouble with their youngest sibling.

Before Kankurou can say anything a rock hits him square on the wrist, impacting with enough force to cause him to loosen his grip on Konohamaru, allowing him to wriggle free. The puppet user looks over to see Sasuke leaning against a tree, tossing a rock up and down, before catching it to crush it.

_What do you want to bet that that is actually a dirt clod and not a rock?_ remarks Kurama as she’s just as annoyed at Sasuke for being a show off as Naruto is, swearing that he’s a male version of the ikeike some days. _Though if it is then that’s stupid for him to destroy his weapon._

Sakura and Moegi stare at Sasuke with hearts in their eyes, while Temari observes that he’s apparently the hot guy around town. Sasuke and Kankurou begin glaring at each other, trying to bore holes in the other's skull with their eyes alone. Their glaring match is brought to a screeching halt as a voice belonging to someone that hasn’t been there a second before calls out to Kankurou.

“Don’t bother with these fools, brother…. In the end, they’re all maggots that will be meeting their graves by my sand.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie twenty-two. I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie wil lbe out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	23. Dive

**_Oks, here we are with the next chappie for, Chasms of Sixteen. It’s definitely growing quite long, but that’s an expectation of course. I hope you all will enjoy what happens this time. Hehes_ **

**_I’m sure it’ll be interesting due to how the Suna nins are involved now. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 23: Dive**

_Shit,_ is Naruto's only thought as he stares at the person who, in the future is one of his closest friends. 

Not realizing that so much time has passed is not the time to be dealing with a psychotic mass murderer who also happens to be a jinchurriki whom Naruto will be impaired against. It’s because not only does he not wish to kill or even badly hurt Gaara, but he can’t exactly pull out enough of Kurama’s power to beat Gaara without it being noticeable. Another thing is that if Gaara is here then the chunin exams are soon. It also means that Orochimaru isn’t very far away. The blonde hasn’t even begun implementing his counter strategy yet.

“G-Gaara,” says Kankurou, scared due to how the redhead just ignores his fright to flash-step down to where Naruto and the others are standing.

"Who the hell are you?" Asks Naruto, an obliviously angry look on his face, deciding that the best course of action for now will be to at the least attempt to prevent Gaara from killing too many people to even maybe get him on Konoha's side before the final exam.

"I'm Kankurou,” says the Puppeteer.

"Temari,” introduces the blonde haired female of the trio.

"I'm Subaku no Gaara," answers the container of Shukaku in his usual bored monotone. "Who are you?"

"Uchiha Sasuke," answers the raven haired male, jumping down from the branch he’s been sitting on.

"Haruno Sakura!" Exclaims the rosette although nobody seems to hear her.

"Me? I'm nobody important. Just a friend of a friend of Shukaku's. The name’s Uzumaki Naruto," says the blonde to him, his eyes briefly flickering to the first stage of the Nagorigan.

Gaara's eyes widen almost imperceptibly for a split second. Not only does this individual know of Shukaku, but judging by his chakra signature he’s the jinchurriki of a fox. The Nagorigan means that his bijuu isn’t just any fox, to top it all off. Only the foxes of the Old Blood possess that particular doujutsu. So, Kurama is the last of that line. Kankurou and Temari are also surprised,, having to wonder how this Konoha shinobi knows of the one tailed raccoon dog sealed within Gaara.

Sasuke, Sakura, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon are all just confused, _Who’s Shukaku? And how does Naruto/the dobe know Gaara?_

That’s the general gist of their thoughts. Sasuke and Sakura are less surprised, of course, having become used to Naruto's status as the least predictable shinobi of all time.

"What do you want, fox?" Asks Gaara in demonic, not wanting to involve the non-jinchurriki present in their conversation.

Smirking a little, he can count on Gaara to be paranoid enough to not only think there’s something more to Naruto's simple greeting, and to not wish any more people than absolutely necessary to be knowledgeable of their conversation. Although they can tell that the two are talking. They won’t be capable of understanding the language. Weighing his options, Naruto decides to talk to Gaara then and there instead of waiting for an opportunity later for this. It’s kind of risky,; especially since he can feel Kakashi watching him like a hawk. Randomly, he disappears to talk with a foreign shinobi who’s later to be known to not be on the side of Konoha will be even more suspicious. He’ll be able to explain talking to Gaara as them both being jinchurriki. The different language can be passed off as them not wanting others to know of their status as what they truly are. Although how to explain how he even knows the language in the first place will be troublesome… Maybe he can just say that he learns it through osmosis via the seal. That’ll go over real well. Luckily and unluckily for him, guessing it’s unlikely that they might confront him about it, preferring to draw their own conclusions.

"Can't I just say 'hi' without you biting my head off?" Asks Naruto casually, deciding that further irritating the sand shinobi might not be the brightest of ideas when Gaara growls at him. “Fine! Don't get your panties in a knot!" 

This comment earns Naruto a death glare, noticing his demon enhanced ears can hear Gaara's sand starting to bristle. Very little signs are actually visible. Inwardly sighing, he guesses that this will be easier said than done conversing with him without it bursting out into a full blown brawl of sorts. Though he hopes that this can go over well enough without any bloodshed hopefully. 

“Try to refrain from killing me…. Anyway, I want to talk to you about something…” 

Gaara's sand relaxes slightly, although he still looks at the ready. His eyes adopt a suspicious, guarded look though. Somehow the death glare remains apparent on full force. It’s no shock to Naruto that isn’t going to fade anytime soon. Seeing that the volatile redhead isn’t going to kill him within the next thirty seconds, Naruto's fox grin returns in full to actually manage to surpass the one he’s worn at the start of the conversation. 

"What's with the look? I'm not goin' to kill you'… Unless you hurt my friends. Then I probably will rip you apart. Nothing personal though,” holding up his hands in a defensive posture, he reassures though still grins a little. 

Gaara tenses back up at the death threat. Knowing Kurama has a slight idea as to the design of the seal, based on the mixture of Naruto's chakra signature and Kurama’s signature. There’s no doubt in either Gaara's mind or in Shukaku's mind that Naruto can fully well carry out that threat… No, it isn’t a threat in the slightest bit. It’s apparent to him that what he says is a promise.

Able to tell that Gaara has taken his words to heart, Naruto continues on, "There's an organization called the Akatsuki on the move. They're hunting jinchurriki like us. I want to team up with you, so to speak. Oh, and Gaara, try not to give off any indication of what we're talking about. We do have an audience." 

Naruto's facial expression and body language completely contradicts the seriousness of what he’s saying. To an observer, it seems as if Naruto is chattering incessantly while Gaara is growing annoyed. The blonde knows well enough that Gaara's natural instinct is to act out what he is saying though, giving hints as to the content of their conversation. Realizing what Naruto has said, Gaara gives no outward indication that he’s heard the blonde to merely start acting as if he’s even more annoyed, rather than switching to intrigued. An extra observer can also explain why Naruto has been acting all hyper and excited when he threatens Gaara with death.

"Go on, you have caught my interest," admits Gaara, his tone conveying extreme annoyance, but their audience probably thinks that he’s telling Naruto to shut up.

Laughing nervously, as if he’s just pissed off a down-right scary mass murderer, Naruto replies, "I'm forming an organization to oppose them and others like them. Before you say no there is something in it for you. Meet me at Training Ground forty-two at midnight so we can talk." 

Training Ground forty-two is where he’s replaced the old seal with his current one. It’s near enough to the Forest of Death that normal people avoid it to be far enough that ANBU and jounin rarely go within a mile of it. Glaring at Naruto as the blonde backs away slowly, he rubs the back of his head.

In response, Gaara tells him, “Whatever. Don't be late."

Naruto visibly pales before grabbing his teammates' arms to pull them away from Gaara. 

"Say bye-bye to the sand ninja!" he announces before running in the opposite direction with them in tow though the Konohamaru Corps are right behind them.

"Naruto-baka! You made him mad, didn't you!?" Sakura screeches, her question sounding much more like an accusation than anything else.

Naruto laughs nervously, “Maybe… But hey, it's nothing I can't deal with! Really!"

"Dobe, who's Shukaku?" Sasuke wants to know, a determinedly suspicious look on his face.

"A friend of a friend,” assures Naruto, trying to put his suspicions at ease for there to be no further questions about it though sometimes that doesn’t work as well as he might hope it does.

Sasuke scowls at Naruto, before deciding that getting anything concrete out of Naruto is a hopeless cause. Kurama watches the two interact, as Naruto and Sasuke start arguing. She feels a strange tugging at her heart, reminding her of something…. How they bicker and fought except are the best of friends gives the fox a nagging suspicion that it’s somehow relatable to the random comparison of Sasuke earlier to the ikeike. Unable to quite recall whom that might be, though, she sighs at how her memories are sparse. The outline of a face, feminine and mysterious, regal and infuriating, floats at the edge of her consciousness. She can just barely make out hair as black as a raven's wings along with eyes a deep, dark purple. Unfortunately any other features are hidden, along with a vast majority of her memory, stretching from when she was a street brat in one of the many ramshackle cities that sprung up as refuges for the multitudes of people fleeing from the onslaught of the worst war to date, when she was the demon equivalent of a seven or eight year old until she awoke in Kushina’s mind to later be in Naruto’s. Only bits and pieces can be reachable beyond that, feeling that the nickname, holds in similar or even equal significance to Naruto's name of teme for Sasuke and the shadowy face are somehow connected. From that veiled time who is the ikeike? What has she been to Kurama? Those are the questions plaguing the fox's mind, not finding any indication of the missing days in the pocket dimension. What she suspects is that she probably hasn’t visited it that often. The only things she can remember are of it because of something her true mother, not that bitch that was her father's wife, has once told her. Sighing, Kurama turns her attention to the outside world. Naruto finishes his argument with Sasuke apparently to now trail behind his two teammates as they walk off to the training grounds, hearing her sigh to sense that she’s thinking deeply.

_Fluffy-nee? Is anything wrong?_ he asks, slightly concerned for the demon that has regained her position as his honorary sister though she does have maternal instincts as well towards him, noticing she seems troubled by something lately.

_Nothing, nothing. Just memories and the lack thereof,_ she tells him, not wanting him to worry too much over her when he has his own obligations to concentrate upon. 

Teantively, he accepts the explanation, knowing he won’t get any more out of her. Kurama has already let him know about her lack of most of her memories. Maybe she’s starting to get some back which explains why she seems to be so almost nostalgic. Although she hasn’t done this the first time around. Then again, he hasn’t exactly been in the habit of communicating with her on a regular basis then. Naruto spends the day training with his teammates, before heading home. On his way back to the apartment, Sasuke catches up with him.

"Hey, dobe!" the raven haired genin calls out as Naruto turns around, wondering why Sasuke wants to talk to him until Sasuke quickly catches up to the blonde.

“Do you want to go to Ichiraku?" Sasuke asks, his voice as monotonous as ever while neither his body posture nor his facial expression gives away anything.

Naruto blinks a few times before frowning, “Sasuke, I got my paycheck. I don't need my friends feeding me.” 

Sasuke scowls, crossing his arms, looking annoyed at him, “Dobe, I asked Hokage-sama, and he said that you haven't been able to pay your bills recently. Save your money for that. I'll buy you food."

Naruto’s about to protest again, but Kurama cuts him off, _Baka, say yes! He's actually annoyed that you aren't letting him treat you to dinner…._

_Fluffy-nee, he isn't asking me on a date. He just wants to feed me because I don't have that much money,_ answers Naruto, trying to deny what his suspicions are telling him.

_Double the reason why you need to accept. Him wanting to buy food for you at knowing your appetite, means that he cares about you,_ Kurama tells him sternly though Before he can protest any more, she continues. _Also, I've met people like him before. He's not the type to ‘enjoy the chase. He’ll probably only like you less if you turn him down._

Naruto mentally grumbles about smart-ass foxes, but listens to Kurama nonetheless, accepting Sasuke's invitation. The Uchiha smirks, acting like a tsundere who doesn’t have a crush on someone that has been trying to ask out for some time together.

_Wait a_ second, says Sasuke to himself, catching his mental description of the blonde. _Nah, there's no way…_

Uchiha's are well known, among other things, for their ability to adamantly refuse to come out of denial despite being buried in evidence that goes against their view of the world. Meanwhile, Kurama has been wondering how she knows how to court 'people like Sasuke' when said boy's smirk, combined with the current track of her thoughts, triggers a flood of memories. The same illusive face, this time with details filling in the same smirk that Sasuke is known for, much like Naruto is known for his fox grin has the kind of smirk that’s liable to infuriate one to no end. It makes someone want to wipe that look off the person's face, preferably in one of two ways. Those are punching the person as hard as humanly or demonically possible, and smashing one's lips against the person's own. The chosen course of action will probably vary based on mood at the time, body posture that accompanies the smirk, and whether or not it’ll be appropriate to kiss the smirk wearer out of the blue at the moment. With the face comes a name, sounding beautiful to Kurama’s ears despite her lack of memory to associate with it to make it such. Luna. The moon. As lovely and mysterious as the person who bears its name. She begins paying attention once again. Naruto is arguing with Sasuke. Apparently the raven has put a limit on how much the blonde can eat. Now that she has a face and name Kurama chuckles at how similar Sasuke is to the barely remembered Luna. It’s also how similar Naruto is to who Kurama has been while in the company of her two charges (although their species, what they look like, how exactly they’ve become her charges, their names and even their genders elude her, clinging to the memory of Luna. That’s just being the only thing she can remember from the haze that covers that timeframe beyond the barest descriptions of the roles people use to play in her life. A slight skimming of the surface of their personalities comes to mind.

Naruto says goodbye to Sasuke after having talked to the raven for a while, consuming as much as he’s allowed. Stupid teme, putting a restriction on how much Naruto can eat is how his thoughts are afterwards. The bastard has a whole family fortune to use to treat friends to meals. Because of missions and the fact that he has enough to support the life style of an entire high end clan for a decade even if all sources of income are cut off, he’s not going to be running out any time soon. Plus if he’s ever hard pressed for cash the villagers including his various fangirls and boys might be happy to help. It doesn’t help that Kurama is currently laughing at him for being so upset at such a minor thing as being given a limit to ten bowls of ramen. He doesn’t like being given a comparison to a stuck-up hormonal teenager.

Deciding at that point to not bother arguing with her any longer than he already has, Kurama is smarter and far more stubborn than he is. It’s an uphill battle that isn’t worth the effort. Arriving 'home', Naruto immediately steps into the Highway, needing to tell Haku and Zabuza about the fact that Gaara might soon be joining them. He doesn’t want to show up with a new member for their organization unannounced after all.

()()()()()

Staring down at the assigned meeting place from his perch in one of the many trees, Gaara waits for Naruto to show up. All day he has to put up first with those two annoyances. Then he has to with Baki asking him about who Naruto is. He almost killed them for being loud and not shutting up when he has told them to. He might of gotten in big trouble with Suna though. So, he doesn’t for him to instead come to Training Ground forty-two two hours before he’s told to be there. Finally, when midnight arrives, Naruto walks into the clearing. Unsurprisingly Gaara doesn’t sense him coming. Foxes are known for their abilities in stealth. The blonde obviously doesn’t want anyone to even know that they are talking more than might be the norm for two jinchurriki’s that happen to run into each other.

Not bothering to use any form of stealth, Gaara flash steps down to where Naruto is to stare the blonde in the eye, Gaara cuts to the chase, “What’s in it for me if I join this 'organization' of yours?" 

"Blunt, but effective," he comments in appreciation, chuckling lightly although Gaara scowls. “The deal's this. You help the other members of the organization, including but not limited to assisting in their protection. This also includes the fulfillment of my own deal with them. You’ll receive help from everyone available in regards to protecting yourself from any enemy. You’ll also receive help with any personal goals. As an added bonus, I'll replace your current seal with a better one that'll help you control Shukaku. It’ll also give you access to more power in a more stable form."

Gaara's eyes widen almost imperceptibly. The temptation from the offer of having his seal fixed is almost enough on its own. He doesn’t particularly care at the moment for the idea of receiving protection and/or help with the fulfillment of goals from other people. Although the survival instinct that he’s inherited' from Shukaku tells him to be wary of the Akatsuki. If Naruto is going out of his way to form a probably illegal organization then there must be something big on the horizon. There’s always a catch to these things though for Gaara to doubt it’s simply helping the other members.

"What's the catch?" Asks the seafoam green-eyed male cautiously. “I doubt you're going to trust me right away. There has to be something in this for you if you're going to so much trouble."

This causes Naruto to grin as he answers, “I knew you'd catch on. The catch is simple really when you think about it. You just have to refrain from killing anyone for the next month. You’ll also have to fight for the leaf when the sand and sound invade Konoha. Don't worry about the bloodlust because I'll put a temporary patch on your seal. It’ll be counterintuitive if you go on a Shukaku induced rampage after all. What's in it for me is that you have to help me with my ambition."

Gaara's eyes widen even more. This guy knows about the planned invasion of Konoha? But how? Deciding that he won’t get anywhere from mere speculation, Gaara starts to chuckle darkly. The chuckle quickly escalates into a full blown maniacal laugh. He doesn’t really care about the whole helping thing, as long as he gets his way. Naruto merely shakes his head by Gaara’s reaction, knowing that he’s given him a deal that’s too good to pass up. That’s the fun part he thought about being Kurama’s container which is he enjoys being able to pull out people’s secrets by using his sly wit.

"You amuse me, Uzumaki Naruto! I accept your offer.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie twenty-three. I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	24. Cascade

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. I hope you all are enjoying it so far. If not, then oh well, at least I tried. I’m still continuing further on this though. Why? Because I find it an enjoyable one to work on. Plus, I can update something often while still working on updates for other stuff. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, let’s get on with it now. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 24: Cascade**

His excitement is the direct effect of Shukaku's anger towards the fact that Gaara has decided to join Naruto's organization. The rage of the demon, rather than scaring him like it normally does is now only hilarious. He has the advantage now. Shukaku has lost at last against him. No longer will the torment continue for him to finally have peaceful rests at night. Naruto only smirks with how it’s easy enough to guess why Gaara is so happy. Shukaku must be throwing a hissy fit, distinctly able to remember the several times he’s majorly pissed off Kurama. Both of them being in this timeline and the original one. The result has been hilarious for him as well. Having a the first of his fellow kin on his side pleases the blonde immensely beyond belief.

Later the next day, Naruto walks up to his teammates exactly five minutes before Kakashi is likely to show. Sasuke has just come here as Sakura is so busy obsessing over him that she doesn’t notice Naruto's late arrival. Greeting both of his teammates in his usual manner before leaning against the railing next to Sasuke, he immediately falls into deep thought. He’ll have to set the next step of his plan into action soon. It’ll most likely be extremely difficult for him to need to fine tune some points. The hardest part will probably be convincing her to help him. They haven’t seen each other in several years ever since slightly before Naruto got an apartment. Briefly, he wonders what has happened to the girl that had been his caretaker when he ran away from the orphanage even though she hasn’t been much older than he use to be. Not exactly seeing her much. Surfacing from his deep thinking mode when someone roughly shakes him, Naruto blinks to look around. Apparently Kakashi has arrived, standing there looking like he always does. Sakura looks rather pissed while Sasuke appears mildly annoyed, having been the one to shake Naruto. The blonde’s privately glad that Sasuke has awoken him before Sakura decides to punch him even though she isn’t as strong as her future self yet. Though she still punches pretty hard.

"Huh? What's going on?" Asks Naruto, knowing full well what Kakashi's announcement is about.

"Well, now that Naruto's woken up, we can continue," announces Kakashi in his usual bored drawl. "As I’ve been saying, the chunin exams are coming up. I recommended you three for them. Here are your papers." 

Having given word to them about the minimal amount required for information on the exams, Kakashi hands them each a slip of paper before he poofs away. Each of them will need to train harder than they ever have had before in order to prevail I these exams. Though if they fail then they’ll be sent right back to the Academy until the next Chuunin Exams are available to sign up for.

"Hey, guys,” says Naruto before his team can wander away from each other like they normally do. "Are you two going?"

Sakura looks a little hesitant. Originally she has been planning on not going, since from what she heard it’ll be dangerous. Kakashi-sensei has said that whether or not to participate is completely optional, but if she announces that here Sasuke's opinion of her might go down the drain. Then again, Sasuke is smart and might decide it’s not worth the risk. Deciding to see what her teammates' decisions are before announcing her own, she hopes for the best with this.

"I'm going to participate, dobe," tells Sasuke to Naruto, not forgetting the ever present nickname.

"If you think you can show me up, teme, you're wrong!" Laughs Naruto. "I'm going to kick your ass!"

Seeing the eagerness of her two teammates, Sakura decides that even though she might slow them down, they won’t mind. Besides, she doesn’t want to receive disappointment from them towards her if she drops out. 

"I think I'm going to go to," she lets them know though normally rather than accompany her declaration with a mightier than thou smirk or a determined expression, she still looks wary about it.

Naruto grins encouragingly at her before patting her on the back, “That’s the spirit Sakura! Show those bitches who's top kunoichi!"

She smiles at his words. She will do her absolute best to beat Ino. At least that’s who she assumes that she’ll be put up against, hoping that she’ll be strong enough to win. Only time will tell as to who wins each round whenever the exams take place.

"Speaking of being the best," says Naruto, bringing his teammates' attention back to the matter at hand. "We need to train more; especially as a team. We need to do it for everything instead of just fighting."

"What do you mean, dobe?" Sasuke wonders, having his attention.

"We need to also train our communication skills and reconnaissance skills in case of an emergency. For instance, we need to share a plan or some vital information, but we are surrounded by enemies. Also we need to be able to find the information in the first place,” answers Naruto in detail, thinking this is of the utmost importance about this particular topic, waiting to see what they think. 

He’s already asked Kurama if she might be able to help him during the test. She’s said no, knowing that he isn’t smart enough to figure out the questions on his own. Enough people hate him for being a jinchurriki that even if he cheats then well they still will bust him. Both Sakura and Sasuke nod, thinking this seems like a good course to lead on. 

"Like a secret hand sign code?" Asks Sakura, catching on quickly.

"Yup! Something of the sort," he agrees, but when both his teammates only look baffled, his grin plasters on his lips only grows a bit. "What I'm thinking about is these.” 

He shows what he means by pulling three complicated devices out of one of the many pockets lining the inside of his black jacket.

"Dobe, what exactly are those?" Sasuke asks warily, now feeling officially suspicious of any 'surprises' the blonde enigma has in store for them.

"I guess you can call them transmission devices," shrugs Naruto. "These are designed to be worn on a necklace. I might of had them be the type that gets imbedded in teeth, but I want those ones to be the absolute best. They are chakra activated and will allow us to communicate silently."

"Let me see," demands Sakura, taking the proffered necklace from Naruto to hold it in her hand.

_Hey Sakura,_ a voice that sounds exactly like Naruto pops into her head. 

She jumps back a few steps before trying to reply. Seeing immediately that just thinking doesn’t seem to have an effect, she focuses a minimal amount of her chakra on the talisman before thinking out her reply.

_It works!_ she tells him before repeating herself in the real world, noticing Sasuke takes the one Naruto hands over to him to loop his around his neck.

_It's also possible to only talk to one person using these. You just think of who you want to talk to. If that person has a talisman then a 'channel' of sorts will open up. It won’t close until you cut off the flow of chakra to the necklace,_ Naruto explains, his teammates nod to show they understand all of this.

“This is so cool!" Sakura exclaims, staring in awe at the little device.

"I think that since we all are good at different types of information gathering this might help to convey it to everyone else a little better. Sakura specializes in sheer brains and being able to deduce things, while Sasuke's good at spying and my specialty is convincing other people to tell me their secrets," says Naruto, noticing Sakura beams at the praise while Sasuke smirks smugly.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sakura asks her previously waning confidence returns with interest. "Let's train!"

“Ah, Sakura, don't you think it’ll be best if we decide on what skill or skills we're all going to improve on first?" he asks, eyes shining with mirth. 

Sakura feels heat rush to her cheeks, mumbling an agreement before Naruto speaks up again, “You can go look in the library, Sakura. You're really good at research and stuff. Sasuke and I can go figure out other ways to figure out what to train in.” 

Sasuke shakes his head at the idiocy albeit rationality of what Naruto has just said. Sakura nods vigorously. Promising to meet back up on the bridge at the end of the day all three genin go their separate ways.

"Hey! Hinata!" Calls out Naruto, running up to the heiress as he spots that she’s training in one of the secluded training areas reserved for her clan.

“N-Naruto-kun,” stutters out Hinata, turning around to face him although she has to wonder though why he wants to talk to her.

"The chunin exams are coming up. I’m wondering if you're going," hastily Naruto explains, coming to a stop right in front of her.

"Of c-course," she replies, blushing and staring at her feet. "I don't want to d-disappoint Kiba-kun and Shino-kun. Wh-Why do you ask?"

Naruto grins, “My team are all going. Hey, how's your training coming along?"

Hinata blushes again, looking up suddenly, “Well, b-but I'm st-stuck on a few things. "I haven't figured out how t-to make the t-technique effective."

"No problem,” assures Naruto. "You just need to find something that matches you specifically. Speaking of, I found these scrolls. They have water jutsus and some different taijutsu styles that you might be able to use." 

Taking the scrolls out of another pocket lining the inside of his jacket, Naruto gives them to her as he continues speaking, “I don't know what your elemental affinity is, but a lot of Hyuuga have a water affinity. So, I kind of assume that you'd have one too."

"Th-thank you,” says Hinata appreciatively, cradling the scrolls to her chest. "Water is my a-affinity."

"That's great!" Beams Naruto. "There's a bunch of cool things you can do with a water affinity combined with how graceful you are!" 

Naruto smiles earnestly at Hinata as she stutters out her thanks, embarrassed at the praise. He’s sure to assure her that she deserves it. Besides, he wants all of those he considers as precious to flourish. It’s also because he wants her to prove her cousin wrong about what Neji thinks about her. The rivalry between the two is apaprent, hoping that what he gives will be good ammunition to fuel her training to be strong enough to defeat Neji during the exams coming up shortly. 

“I gotta go now. See ya in the exams! Oh, before I forget, here," says Naruto, handing her a necklace.

Seeing her confused face, Naruto decides to show her what its use is, _It allows you to communicate silently with whoever happens to be wearing another of those. You just think about the person or people you want to talk to and channel chakra into the talisman._

_Thank you, Naruto-kun_ ,she says despite how embarrassed she feels not stuttering with how apparently the mental link doesn’t pick up on that.

_Sakura and Sasuke have one too. These are for your two teammates. I'm also planning on giving some to Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji,_ explains Naruto, handing her two more necklaces. 

She nods, accepting them, _Oh, one more thing. Don’t tell Kurenai-sensei about these. It might be a bit difficult to explain how I got them._

Assuming that Naruto has probably stolen them, or at the least the components for them, Hinata agrees. Naruto has actually stolen the components, but that isn’t why he wants her silence. The technique used to make these is a demon one. They have been made with demonic power. It’ll take a ton of explaining as to how he even managed to make something that only the fox is able to make, with the fox's obvious help, when he isn’t suppose to be even so much as conversing with her. Saying goodbye again before running off to give Team 10 their necklaces, he can deal with how they are actually going to survive the chunin exams in the first place.

_'I must say…. You’ve actually managed to come up with a pretty good idea to save the old geezer and Konoha at the same time. Now, let’s see if it works._

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie twenty-four. I apologize if it’s a little short, but that’s how it is sometimes. I hope you all enjoyed though. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	25. Scarab

**_Hey y'all! So, here's the next chappie for, Chasms of Sixteen. I'm glad y'all are enjoying it so far it seems. It'll definitely be interesting how this progresses from here on out. Well, for y'all it will, but for me I know what happens due to being the one writing this after all. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, let's get on with it now. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 25: Scarab**

Naruto mentally nods, not so sure about his plan after all, but it's the only thing he can think of doing beyond using more than is suggested of Kurama's power. Probably that won't have that good of consequences though, scratching that idea to stick with the one set in place. Arriving at Team 10's usual training ground, he hesitates in a tree, expanding his senses. Nope, Asuma isn't anywhere to be found. Neither is Kakashi either from what he can tell. Alighting on the ground at the edge of the clearing, Naruto calls out to the three genin training there, managing to confirm that they are indeed, going to the exams as well. The same explanation is given for the necklaces although Shikamaru questions his motives.

"This way all nine of us will be way more likely to pass! Plus I'm friends with Shikamaru and Chouji. I want to help them. So there," answers Naruto a bit childishly.

Ino and Chouji easily accepts his explanation although Shikamaru is still suspicious, he just shrugs and mutter troublesome under his breath, knowing long before anyone else how hard to predict Naruto is at any given time. Figuring out the blonde's motives isn't worth the effort involved for it to even be possible.

"Oh, by the way," Naruto continues, not wanting to stay here too long. "Don't tell Asuma-sensei about these…. I may not have gotten the stuff used to make these…. The jutsu for them isn't a widely accepted one…"

Ino rolls her eyes, "That's just like you, baka! Being on a different team from yours almost enough to make up for being on a different team than Sasuke! I can't believe you stole something."

"Mendokuse," Shikamaru mumbles. "Ino, you do know that it's commonplace for shinobi to steal. Naruto's only issue is that he probably stole something restricted to genin. Right?"

"Yeah," nods Naruto, relief washing over him at someone getting it.  _So far, so good…._

"Whatever," shrugs Ino, slipping the necklace over her head.

Seeing that the three will keep quiet, and most likely don't have any more questions that he's going to answer, Naruto says goodbye to run off. He sure hopes that he'll be able to find his old friend before the exams start up in earnest…

()()()()()

Tsuchi Kin stares out the window of her hotel room. The feeling of nostalgia rushes over her almost with being here. Huh. Never thought she might feel anything but contempt for the place she's been born and raised.

 _Don't think it's the place you miss, little one,_ the voice that has always been her constant companion whispers though she knows the owner of the voice is right with this not being the place she truly misses.

 _Onee-chan, can you stop reminding me already?_ Kin replies, her tone lacking the usual spite she normally speaks with.

The two fall into silence, as Kin watches the sun set over Konoha. Sunset has always been her favorite time of the day. It's when the world slows down for all the people to fall asleep. Then the true wonders of the world show themselves.

"Hey, Kin!" a familiar voice whispers from nearby.

Jumping slightly, she doesn't realize until being startled that she's been dozing off to foolishly drop her guard, deciding to whisper back with slight anoyance, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Naruto," the voice answers for Kin's eyes to widen ever so slightly, not having seen the blonde in years.

"What the hell do you want?" Hisses out considering if she gets caught talking to a Konoha shinobi then she'll be damned.

"Can't tell you here. Make up some excuse to go to the market district. A friend of mine will meet you there," answers the blonde in a hushed tone so as not to be spotted. "Gotta go."

Before Kin can say anything, a common blue jay drops from the roof above her window, whispering a goodbye back at her. Typical Naruto, doing something so easy and yet rarely thinks of to sneak around. Who the hell is she suppose to meet with, anyway?

 _Little one,_ the voice whisper.  _Did you notice his chakra signature?_

 _No,_ Kin repleis, frowning at the question.  _Why_?

Pausing for a second, before replying, the owner of the voice tells her,  _His energy signature has changed… he's starting to merge with Kurama._

Kin smiles at this tidbit of information. So, the brat has finally met his demon? Good for him.

_Well, let's go see what this is all about then._

Grabbing some money, Kin slips on her shoes to walk into the hallway. Dosu apparently hears her, because he opens the door to his and Zaku's room, looking around.

"Where are you going?" he asks, not trusting his teammate to not do something foolish.

"Don't get all pissy. I'm just going shopping," Kin replies, holding up her purse. "Go back to your boyfriend."

Dosu scowls at her. She's been bothering him and Zaku incessantly ever since Dosu has tripped to fall on Zaku during a training session, their lips accidentally meeting. Dosu has never been able to shake the feeling that she's somehow rigged the training match so that might happen although he's never been able to prove anything. Still scowling, Dosu retreats into his room to slam the door behind him. Doesn't he know that she isn't the type of girl to randomly decide to go shopping? Of course not. He never pays attention to anyone other than himself. Plus it helps that she's made him too annoyed to desire to talk to her any longer than necessary, effectively killing his curiosity. That has been almost the best prank she's ever pulled. It might of even happened in front of most of the Sound genin along with many of the chunin and jounin. Their embarrassment has been worth the trouble of arranging it just right so that it'll work. That way she gets away with it. Shortly Kin arrives at the market area within five minutes, deciding to walk rather than run. The hotel is close to the shops, anyway. She has only been there for ten minutes when somebody taps her on the shoulder. Turning around, Kin sees a brown haired male with shoulder length hair and unexpressive brown eyes. One of the most nondescript people she's ever seen before by the looks of it.

"Excuse me, miss," the unknown male says. "But you left this in my grandfather's shop."

Holding out her purse, Kin thought she got it after paying for whatever supplies she might need for the upcoming battles. Swearing that she's kept her purse with her the whole time, not seeing this individual in the one shop she's entered.

"Thanks," says Kin, grabbing the purse.

Before she can turn around and leave the person who found it continues the conversation.

"I notice that you have a music sheet for song Kitsune no Aika. I'm trying to learn how to play it…. I'm wondering if you can give me some tips," says the male by the looks of it even though he does have some feminine features about him, staring at the ground though causes Kin to blink.

First of all, she's never heard of a song called Kitsune no Aika, not having any music sheets in her purse. The reference to a fox though perks her interest. Perhaps this is Naruto's friend he's told her to meet. Discussing music will give them an excuse to talk to each other.

"Sure," acquiesces Kin after checking briefly that no Sound-nin or spies that she knows of are anywhere nearby.

She won't be surprised if Orochimaru's spies are following her though. He doesn't trust anyone other than himself. Then again, the bastard considers everyone else so beneath him that he never seems to think of the possibility of someone betraying him. Well, he does consider this, but doesn't let anyone in on his thoughts except for his assistant, Kabuto.

"The name is Tsuchi Kin."

"I'm Aiji," the other person replies, bowing his head slightly.

Kin follows Aiji back to the shop she's entered earlier. Instead of entering he walks into a side alley, presumably heading for a back door. Kin follows swiftly after a moment's hesitation. She doesn't exactly trust this Aiji person after all. Opening a side door, he turns to Kin to beckon for her to enter. The door leads into a hallway, doors space unevenly along it. At the end of the hallway is a stairway with steps leading up and down.

"My apartment is on the second floor, right above grandfather's shop. I have a music room there that we can practice in."

Nodding, Kin continues to follow him. The door swings shut behind them, preventing anyone who might have been tailing Kin from following. When the two of them have reached the top of the stairs they both hear the door to the outside creak open. Aiji quickly grabs Kin's arm to pull her up another flight of stairs. Once there Aiji soundlessly opens a window to the outside before jumping out. Kin looks out the window to see that it faces another building that's clearly newer than the one they are currently in. It's very close to the window Aiji has exited out of. Seeing that he has landed on a window sill of another wing of the building, Kin is standing in. The enormous window has been cut off by the new building to be boarded up, the state of the window itself attests to the fact that the room beyond hasn't been used in quite some time. Kin follows Aiji further onto the ledge, letting the window slide shut behind her. Anybody outside of the building isn't going to be able to see them, hoping that her pursuers inside won't have any reason to suspect that she's gone out a third story window. They probably thought that she has simply entered a room before they can climb the stairs to the second floor. Aiji wastes no time in scaling the wall with chakra, Kin following right behind him. The two enter one of the abandoned rooms through a substantial hole in the wall.

"This wing of the building is heavily damaged when Kurama attacked, having never been repaired," Aiji says, explaining the desolate state of all the rooms they've passed.

The room they are currently in is other than the hole in the wall, in a fairly good state of repair. Aiji forms the hand sign for henge, before her visage is replaced in a poof of smoke with that of a different boy with dark brown eyes and black hair. Kin knows the use of disguising herself, choosing the form of a brown haired boy with light brown eyes. The two of them exit the room, slipping onto the fifth floor of the main wing of the building. They run down to the first level, exiting through a different back door than they used to enter. Aiji leads Kin through the market to the most run down section of Konoha, taking a winding path that'll throw off any pursuers not familiar with the streets of Konoha. They quickly arrive at an apartment complex, which Aiji enters without hesitation. The two dash up to one of the middle floors, entering into the last room on the hall.

"This is Naruto-kun's room," Aiji tells Kin, turning slightly to face the sound nin.

Kin glances around, but doesn't see anyone. If she is suppose to talk with the blonde it's fairly logical to assume that she might actually get to meet him. Still, she hasn't figured out why he'd decides to contact her after all this time. Or how he even knows that she's participating in the chunin exams. Aiji walks to the wall farthest from the window, gathering chakra in his hand. Pulling aside a picture of Naruto and what Kin assumes is his genin team, Aiji slams his hand into the wall. A blue handprint is left behind for Kin to feel a weird sensation overcome her as a complex chakra barrier is raised. Her specialization in illusion allows Kin to appreciate the work of art that is the chakra barrier. It has likely been created by the fox vixen herself, Naruto probably not having the chakra control or experience required to create this advanced an illusion. Kin watches, fascinated, as a shimmering portal opens in front of her. Aiji steps through for after a moment's hesitation Kin follows, figuring she has nothing to lose even if this does turn out to be pointless, being bored with nothing else to do.

"Hey! Kin!" Calls out Naruto, seeing two boys arrive using the Gateway that leads back to his apartment even though they don't look at all like their original selves, Naruto can sense their identities.

Both Haku and Kin releases their transformations at the same time. Kin looks around, temporarily ignoring Naruto.

"Where the hell are we?" she asks.

"Kurama's place," an unfamiliar voice announces.

Naruto looks in the direction it has come from. What he sees is a woman. With butterfly wings. Kurama thought she has seen her before, but has no clue where. She is quite petite with skin a light tan, having long blonde hair, streaked with a pale shade of pink and a deep purple. Her outfit is made of some bright, multicolored shimmering cloth, loosely covering all of her body except for her head, neck, hands, and feet. Both feet are clad in shoes of what looks like soft leather. Her wings are the most amazing thing about her though. Great sweeping butterfly wings that are decorated with figures in a plethora of colors, having bright green eyes, and ears are pointed. They easily extend four inches beyond the normal ear length of humans. Her ears are pierced many times over, colorful and complex baubles decorate them.

"May I ask what such a beautiful fairy lady such as yourself might wish to be called?" Naruto asks, hoping he's gotten the wording right to not sound like a fool, making sure to compliment her, of course as it's considered rude in fairy society to not compliment someone the first time anyone might meet them, hearing a melodious laugh from her.

"Such manners! You've taught him well, Kurama," she says, smiling. "Yes, you may ask my name, young warrior. I am called Chou Yosei. I'm sealed into Kin."

"Hey! I know you!" Exclaims the fox, finally remembering where she's seen this one before. "You were Rikka's and Tejina's sensei!"

Yosei laughs lightly, "I know that you've been having memory problems due to Aranea's poison, but I never thought that it might take you so long to remember me."

Well, there goes her moment of giddiness over her memory returning. Who is Aranea? Meanwhile, Naruto, Kin, and Haku are having a conversation of their own.

"You're a jinchurriki?" Asks Naruto, surprised as he's never thought that Kin has been one of any kind although it explains how she's been so mature for her age.

"Yeah, onee-chan was sealed into me as punishment by some new world fairies. The idiots didn't bother so much as putting a seal so I can talk to her freely," she explains quietly. "What the hell do you call me for anyways? It's dangerous for me to meet a Konoha nin. You know it, so don't tell me you feel like a reunion."

"Let's talk inside," answers Naruto, indicating the massive palace behind him.

Kin briefly has to wonder who can afford the place. The three walk into the main hall of the palace, Naruto leading them towards the same meeting room he, Haku, and Zabuza have first used. Zabuza is already there. He's been dozing lightly in one of the chairs, snapping awake when the three shinobi enter.

"This is Momochi Zabuza," introduces Naruto to Kin. "Zabuza, meet Tsuchi Kin."

Kin nods, indicating that she's heard him. This place is huge. The fanciness of it all astounds her. Really, what is the point of having something so expensive? A regular table and chairs will serve the same purpose to be way more affordable. The three sit down at various random points about the table. Receiving a message from Kurama that she'll be a while, letting him know that they can always learn what has been talked about from their jinchurriki later, Naruto decides to go ahead.

"Kin, I need your help with something," Naruto tells her, his tone and facial expression turn serious.

 _He's sure grown up in the last six years,_ Kin observes, comparing Naruto to the kid he's been when she knew him, always either being all happy and stupid, not having a care in the world, or being sad.

"Like what? I'm not going to do anything that'll end with me dead or likely badly hurt," replies Kin, knowing that the only reason Naruto might want to seek her out if he's already gone to such pains as to have high ranked missing ninja under his command is to get close to Orochimaru either to kill him or spy on him, knowing both of which are high risk jobs.

"Basically, I need your identity. Using you as a contact, I can replace people close to Orochimaru with clones to gain spies among his ranks. Also I know you…. I know that you probably already have access in some way or another to restricted information," the blonde explains, wasting no time in getting to the point of the matter.

Before she can point out the flaws in his plan like her own safety, Haku interrupt, "Any high risk parts such as the upcoming chunin exams, you don't have to carry out yourself. Either a clone or I will take your place when Oto and Suna invade Konoha. You can also be replaced during the first two stages of the Chunin Exams. Any other times when risk if high this can be a viable option."

"I can assume you're not planning on taking out Orochimaru?" Kin asks, knowing that Naruto has always been the type to avoid using no subterfuge whatsoever to almost always having some trick or another beneath the surface, thinking that killing Orochimaru outright, in front of all those people will be stupid.

Naruto puts at ease her worries, "I know that you'd figure it out. No, I'm not going to kill Orochimaru during the invasion. That'll be way too obvious. If I can, I'll arrange to have him killed off by ANBU. What I plan to do is actually replace one of his bodyguards with a clone. Replacing one of the Sound Four will definitely screw up so many of his plans."

Kin blinks. No way… it's just too perfect to work. Still, if she isn't in the direct line of fire it can't hurt her to try.

"I think I know a way to incapacitate one of the Sound four," she says, knowing she's likely going to regret this, but it can't hurt. "But before I tell, what am I going to get out of all this?"

Naruto grins before he answers, "The help of me, Kurama, Gaara and Shukaku, most fox demons, Zabuza, Haku, and anyone else I can convince to help for starters. Also we'll all help protect you. Trust me, Orochimaru doesn't have anything good planned for you. You won't be at too much risk. I'll give you a communication device. Anyone who knows how will be able to get to you in a split second if you raise the alarm. Also I have at the least one demigod on my side, but she doesn't want me to reveal her identity until things have been decided."

"Wait, brat, back up," growls Zabuza. "You have a demigod helping you? Why the hell haven't you mention this earlier?"

Shrugging, he answers, "I haven't think it mattered. She's not going to help unless things start involving her or I get into a situation involving other demigods."

"Stupid brat," Zabuza growls again. "Of course it matters! Don't you know that the first rule of not getting your ass creamed is to not mettle in the affairs of deities and demigods?!"

"Yes, I know that," glares Naruto in response. "But the second rule says not to mettle in the affairs of dragons and demons. You're doing that just by being in this organization."

"That's different! Dragons and demons are way less," Zabuza begins to argue only to be cut off mid-sentence by Naruto.

"Anyway, they're more of guidelines rather than actual rules, so we don't really have to follow them," says Naruto, returning to a more calm composure.

Before Zabuza can reply, Kin interrupts Again. "What are you two talking about? I've never heard of these rules before."

"Oh? Haven't you ever heard the saying 'Don't mettle in the affairs of dragons and/or demons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup'?" Asks Naruto, his grin growing wider. "The 'Don't mettle in the affairs of deities and demigods' is pretty much just assumed to be common sense.

Kin opens her mouth as if to reply, but then seems to change her mind, instead asking, "Back to the subject we're suppose to be talking about, why you are trying to start an organization, anyways?"

'Really, do they all have to ask why I'm gathering missing ninja, jinchurriki, random people that can be useful, and various others? I mean, can't they just, I don't know, accept the fact and agree or decline?' Asks Naruto with his brows creasing a bit out of the conflicting affairs of trying to set this all up.

 _They canbut then they probably might be an idiot, and having anybody stupider than you in this organization won't be such a smart idea. You're already pushing the limits of accepted intelligence level as it is,_ replies Kurama over their mental link.

 _First of all, wasn't talking to you. Secondly, I'M NOT STUPID! Also, this is my organization which means I can't be kicked out! So there!_ Naruto snaps back at her.

 _Do you realize how childish you just sounded?'_ Laughs the fox.

_You know what? Shut up. I'm going to ignore you now.'_

_'How are you going to ignore a voice in your head?_ Asks the fox, sighing at how childish this conversation is.

_Lalala, I can't hear you! Naruto thought, projecting a mental image of him with his hands blocking his ears._

The blonde can swear that he hears a snort and Baka comment from the fox, having to resist the impulse to reply. Turning his attention back to the meeting, he responds to Kin, knowing she needs a proper response to ensure this goes over smoothly.

"I'm in for now," Kin says, bringing Naruto back to the conversation. "But if things get too dangerous towards me or you ask me to do something I don't want to, I'm out."

Naruto nods, agreeing, "Alright, makes sense."

Rather than continue the conversation there, Naruto decides to give Kin a transmitter to explain explain its use. She has been followed of course. If she is gone for too long it will look suspicious. They can finish the conversation over the mind channel anyway. Zabuza seems to be getting annoyed. Let's just say it's best not to annoy the maniacal killer in the room. Naruto and Kurama both say their goodbyes to Kin and Chou, the fairy and demon having caught up fairly well. What Kurama learns is as much as she can from Chou, beginning to piece together her lost memory. Haku leaves with Kin and Chou, promising to return later. The more he ventures out the more risky it is, but he needs to be present to make Kin's story sound believable.

"You were saying earlier that you want to replace one of those bastards and one bitch, in the Sound Four. I know how you might be able to replace Kidomaru. I know some of his personality," begins Kin as she runs back to the market district, somehow sensing over the mind link that her audience of four Zabuza has decided to listen to what she's saying despite how annoyed he is at all the 'useless banter. "The moron has this creepy obsession with me. He says I'm the 'hottest chick in Sound'. The freak has asked me out on dates several times."

Naruto grins manically which Haku and Kin sense, "Hehe, my favorite kind of trick…. I can take care of that part since you seem kind of adverse to the idea of going within half a mile of him."

"Whatever," dismisses Kin, feeling slightly at ease that she doesn't have to, thinking it good that she doesn't have to dare seducing Kidomaru.

The guy is a jerk though. He's always going out of his way to creep people out. He has the strangest idea of 'flirting'. He's one of the two reasons Kin has decided not to rise any further in the ranks. The other being the really high ranked people are generally subjected to Orochimaru's various experiments; especially curse seals. The more gruesome experiments are preformed on the really low ranked people including prisoners. Naruto nods, asking her about Kidomaru, explaining that people rarely see past their own selves more than is necessary. It's easy to fool someone as long as someone acts in the range of what they expect. This also includes their self image. Someone with an over sized ego, for instance, is far more susceptible to being fooled by someone faking interest in them than someone with almost no self esteem.

It makes sense to her. Kin explains everything she can about Kidomaru's personality and how she'll be expected to act. She also tells the four people as much as she knows about the invasion, who will be where, and when things will happen, various people's weak points, etc. is also being given intel to them via her.

 _You're being awfully helpful_ , remarks Naruto, recalling Kin's usual personality.

 _I'm just excited at the thought of that jackass Orochimaru being ground into the dust. He acts all nice and kind, but he's not like how he is out of the hideouts. I'm thankful that I'm not a boy and he's not straight_ ," says Kin in a ranting mood, causing Naruto to be mildly surprised (and amused) by the normally calm yet sadistic girl's rant.  _You need to disembowel him. Hang him from his toes off the side of a cliff infested with hawks…_

 _I second Kin's idea for killing him,_ says Naruto, adding to his own thoughts that he probably won't considering the Sanin is more useful alive.

_Yes, yes, I know all about that, kit. Rest assure that all will fall into place as they will. Just keep your focus on track of each step one at a time. Don't get too ahead of yourself or you'll go two or three steps backwards._

**_Oks, that's the end of chappie twenty-five. I hope you all enjoyed. I'm trying my hardest and best to ensure I update this often and quickly enough for y'all. I hope that's good though. *sweatdrops* Though probably it's due to my anxiety issues that I put out more than I expect._ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed what happened this time. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	26. Coil

**_Alrighty, here we are with the next chappie for, Chasms of Sixteen. I hope you all are enjoying it so far. I personally enjoy the progression I have. If others don't like it then oh well. I'm not here to please anyone. I'm just here to have fun telling a great story for others reading pleasure._ **

**_Anyway, let's get on with it now. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 26: Coil**

Scared, no, scratch that, because he's downright terrified. Yeah, sure, guys aren't suppose to get frightened or anything to be all big and strong. That's not how it is at all. Men have the same right to have feelings, to experience mental health issues, and so on. But Naruto really wants to go hide under a rock right now…. It's not as if he's the bearer of bad news per se, but it's not good news. Plus the genin have heard of Orochimaru's sense of humor, causing him to dread that he might stumble upon the snake lord when he's bored, or, worse yet, annoy him. Such an infraction will be the death of this poor genin.

"Um, excuse m-me," he stutters out, having come to the passageway leading into Orochimaru and his pets' living quarters, needing to pass the gate guard before he can proceed to deliver his news.

"Oh look, it's a scaredy-cat little genin," one laughs, looking at the frightened one with contempt shining in his eyes. "I wonder if he's here to play?"

"Oh, yes, little genin, we'll have so much fun playing with you," chuckles the other guard darkly.

The third guard rolls his eyes, getting annoyed with how stupid they are being. Can't they tell that the kid is a messenger for Orochimaru-sama? The genin shakes out of sheer terror of these two. His eyes are wide for the pupils to almost swallow the irises, giving him the look of a rabbit staring at a wolf that's about to gobble it up.

"Come on, guys," the third guard says wearily. "Stop this nonsense. You know what the rules are."

The two guards that have scared the genin snarl in unison. Still, the third is of a higher rank than they are. Thus, causing them to listen to him. What a pity it is then.

"Why are you here?" the third guard asks the genin, showing some mercy and patience adverse his companions.

The male in question stares at him blankly for a few seconds, the terror still holding him. His eyes keep frantically darting between the two test subjects that guard Orochimaru's domain, the third guard that has saved him and any possible routes of escape or possible hiding places.

"M-my c-commander told m-me to deliver this m-message to O-Orochimaru-sama," stammers out the shinobi, holding out a letter sealed with some kind of jutsu. "He s-said it's u-urgent."

The guard nods, his eyes sliding over to the other two guards. He mentally waves the chances that the kid wil mentally or physically make it through Orochimaru's main lair in one piece, deciding the chances are slim to none. The brat can't be older than six or seven although knowing the condition of Orochimaru's minions he might be slightly older.

"Why don't you give the letter to me, and I'll deliver it for you?" the guard suggests, his tone calm and soothing.

Before the genin can protest because messengers aren't suppose to trust their messages with anyone else, the nice guard continues, "You don't know your way around here. You'll likely get lost. Also, because of your age, you'll likely annoy Orochimaru-sama while someone older will not get on his nerves so much."

The genin nods slowly. The guard's words make sense, and didn't not wanting to go anywhere near Orochimaru. so, he hesitantly hands the precious letter to the nice guard. Watching the two Bad Men like he's a rabbit and they hawks flying lazily above him, he turns to jog down the hallway, his speed steadily increasing until he's sprinting away from the horrifying depths of the snake's temporary domain. The guard turns, telling the two imbeciles to watch the station while he's gone. What else this one tells his subordinates is to try not to do anything stupid, Descending down the stairs into the gloomy passageways that compose the labyrinth of Orochimaru's chambers, he goes down that way to where he can find the Sanin. After many twists and turns, he finally comes upon the room in which he knows that Orochimaru will be inside. It's a basic command room, allowing Orochimaru to view any part of his domain he wishes, listening to anything he wants via a system of cameras and bugs. He can also contact those outside of the lair within it. The guard stands outside the door, knowing better than to risk calling out to interrupt his lord. Unsurprisingly, for Orochimaru is used to frightened messengers either too scared to or to wise to announce their presence.

"Yes?" Orochimaru calls out, annoyed slightly by the messenger who shows up at his door.

"Orochimaru-sama," the guard says, his voice steady and calm, rather than frightened as it might be. "There is a message for you. It's urgent."

Orochimaru turns his chair around, intrigued at the gall of the message sender, the messenger, and the world in general that dares interrupt him with his work. Mildly he feels interest by the mysterious message.

"Give it here," orders the dark haired man, golden amber eyes gleaming in the low light.

The guard obediently walks forward, handing Orochimaru the letter. He backs up slightly, waiting to be given dismissal before he returns to his station. As Orochimaru's eyes skims over the letter, he begins to smile slightly, his smile coldly though soon grows a bit as a dark chuckling sound emits from the back of his throat as he reads further. Finally he erupts into full blown laughter, his insane cackle echos off the walls to chill the hearts of those who hear The guard watches a feeling of dread growing in his stomach as Orochimaru cackles, clenching the letter, the cause of his laughter, tightly in his hand. Whatever may have given cause to this much rampant joy in Orochimaru can not be good for anyone.

 _Well, well, it seems like fate is on my side,_ he thought in glee of all the pieces falling into place, gaining the attention of someone nearby.

"My lord, you request my attention?" Asks Kabuto, adjusting his glasses while he stands a few paces away from where the dark haired individual sits.

"Why yes I have," murmurs Orochimaru, lips curving into a small smirk rather than the expression he has earlier.

"You require the medicine again, correct?" Prompts Kabuto, keeping on schedule with it for his superior's illness.

"Indeed," confirms Orochimaru, being given the shot of the hypodermic needle that Kabuto injects into his arm, sighing in relief when he can breathe without having the liquid and such causing vicious coughing fits.

"is that all, my lord?" Asks Kabuto dutifully, being his right hand for various reasons of course, noticing that he seems to be in a better mood than he has in quite some time. "Oh, I see that the message has come."

"Hn, we'll be setting off for Konoha shortly. Prepare yourself, Kabuto. We'll both have our hands in how events will unfold in due course."

**_Oks, that's the end of chappie twenty-six. I hope you all enjoyed it. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	27. Slash

**_Alrighty, here’s the next chappie for, Chasms of Sixteen. I thought to put out some more of this today because I can. I do it whenever I have stuff finished being put through the revision process. Sometimes it takes longer than other times, but it all depends I suppose. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, let’s get on with it now. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 27: Slash**

Prince Epesi Mguu lies in the clearing in front of his den. The tall metal trees of the two leg's jungle rise high above him. The sounds of the Grumbles fill the air. All is well in his kingdom. The pups are many and strong. Famine is a thing of the past. Growing bored though due to how nothing hasbeen happening recently. Being the only dog pack in existence the Thunder Pack doesn’t need to compete with others of their kind for territory or hunting rights. There’s little hunting to be done in man's jungle. Deciding to roam around too see if there’s anyone new to meet, Epesi Mguu strolls down the paths of the city, his royal head held high. While walking in a clearing he sees the most beautiful creature that he’s ever laid eyes on. Her coat is a brilliant red color, the tips of her tail and ears are white. Her eyes are a laughing, sparkling green, showing keen intelligence. Her body is lithe and fur lush in brilliance. Moving with a feline grace, darting through the crowds of humans. Epesi Mguu runs after her, intent on discovering this unique beauty's name. Stopping briefly to grab a piece of meat from the front of a butcher's shop, dashing away before he can be caught, the great dog lord runs after the fox.

"Excuse me, Madam," he says in Universal, trotting up beside her. "Might I ask you for your name?"

Looking him over, her eyes show mirth and joy like they always have, “Why, such manners! I am the Princess Kit. What might your name be, Sir?" 

"I am the leader of the Thunder Pack, Prince Epesi Mguu. It is a great pleasure of mine to be able to converse with one so lovely as yourself," he says in astonishment as he bows to her.

She laughs once again, bowing in return, "It is my pleasure, kind sir! Such gentlemen as yourself are rare these days. Might I ask if you are planning on eating that sausage all by your lonesome self?" 

"Why, of course not my lady! It’s rude of me to not offer to share with a companion. Might we dine somewhere more comfortable?" Offers the canine.

"Why, naturally,” Kit laughs. “I know just the place! This way!" 

She leaps to her feet, starting to run, Epesi Mguu close behind. They have run for not even five minutes when Kit slows down. They are in a part of the city that Epesi Mguu doesn’t recognize, but he’s determined to not loose face to where they are in particular. He has nothing to worry about at the moment. So, it seems for Kit is apparently lost as well. 

"Oh, my," she says, tail and ears drooping. "I am quite afraid that we have gotten lost on the way. These human jungles confuse me so."

Knowing that he’s only looking like a fool if he offers to lead and only got more lost, Epesi Mguu decides to swallow his pride, “Well, then we need to only ask for directions. I'm sure one of the locals knows where we are."

"That's a great idea! But I'm not very good at striking up a conversation. Why don't you do it, Epesi-kun?" she suggests as the dog nods for him to stride up to one of the humans while the fox that’s currently lurking in the shadows tries not to be seen, can only think of how gullible he is.

"Excuse me, sir," Epesi Mguu callsout in Universal to the human. "Might you be able to tell us how to find our way to the Spire from here?"

The human looks down at Epesi Mguu, an expression of surprise crossing his features. He says something in Human which Epesi is unable to comprehend. Kit understands what the human is saying perfectly though, having to struggle not to laugh. Epesi has accidently approached a young boy whose mother is currently in the shop 

Standing in front of. The child, probably only eight years of age, squeals, “Puppy!” 

Grabbing the scruff of Epesi Mguu's neck, the prince realizes that something is going on here. Trying to wriggle free, his efforts are to no avail. The child only tightens his grip to scold the dog. Epesi comes to the realization that he’s been tricked when he hears a cruel, feminine laughter originating from the fence. It isn’t Kit, for she is being careful not to reveal her presence, but instead it’s Nekomata, the cat Princess. Epesi has been at odds with her for a long time. The feline as black as pitch looks down at her adversary with amusement shining in her golden eyes. Dark violet and dark blue shimmer in her pelt as she moves, creating a mystifying effect. 

"Well, well," she drawls out in Universal. "Look at what the fox drags in."

Before Prince Epesi Mguu can reply the child's mother exits the shop. She sees her son with his hand buried in the scruff of a dog's neck. Of course this causes a raise in commotion. She and the boy speak for a bit, before she finaly relents, deciding to let her son keep the dog. Epesi Mguu stares back in horror as he’s being dragged away. Kit then emerges from the shadows, laughing her enchanting laugh. 

"Fool!" she cries out. "Remember this, and remember it well! Thine own grandiloquent airs shall be thy downfall! Thy pompous kind shall be such no more! The era of their rule is come to and end! Man shall determine their fate!"

Snarling at the fox, Epesi Mguu replies, "Curse thy name and thy kin, fox! From this day forth I shall hunt you and your ilk to the ends of the Earth, until not a single fox is left breathing! If my breath is stolen from me before this goal is accomplished my descendents shall take up the hunt! Run and hide little fox! Cower in your den!"

True to his word, Epesi Mguu escapes from the boy two years later. By then news of the trickery the fox has played has spread far and wide. His kind are being taken in by Man as pets. The animals of the wild and of the streets laugh at him. Such a fool, to let his pride and conceitedness get him caught. Does he really think he can possibly court the magnificent fox Princess Kit? The humiliation that the vixen has cause only increases Epesi Mguu's desire for revenge. Swearing an all out war on the foxes for since that day many dogs have upheld his example, striking out at foxes whenever the opportunity presents itself. The foxes are cunning though. They’re quite hard to catch while harder to kill. So the cycle repeats, each new generation of dogs being taught to hate foxes. On the other hand has each new generation of foxes to taunt dogs.

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie twenty-seven. This is some exposition to what begins the war towards the kitsune all those centuries ago aforementioned in a previous chappie of this story. So, in short, this is an AU of course if you don’t know by now. Hehes_ **

**_I hope you all enjoyed what happened this time. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	28. Simmer

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for, Chasms of Sixteen. Well, I think if I try finishing up a couple chappies of this a day will be sufficient enough. Besides, y’all seem to appreciate frequent updates so far. Hehes_ **

**_I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 28: Simmer**

Naruto takes a deep breath, hearing the argument over the issue of the illusionary floor and door numbering long before his teammates. At least he can be aware, wondering why they’re bickering so. Though he can at the very most defuse the situation to converse about it in a calm manner.

_Do you think we need to help?_ he asks Kurama.

_Yeah, It won’t be fair to Team Gai or our other allies to leave them with those two. While helping our enemies won't be particularly enjoyable just remember to remind Sasuke about showing off._

Naruto mentally nods his agreement as he pipes up aloud, “Don’t forget guys: no showing off. We can’t let anyone else know how advanced we are.” 

Still, he’s not up to full power, not thinking that he can handle a real fight against any of the more powerful shinobi here. With all of the jounin and ANBU watching his every move, he’s able to fight in the Forest of Death, but only because then he can get away with using Kurama’s chakra to balance his own.

“You've been saying that a million times, dobe," points out Sasuke, wondering what really, can go wrong so much that the blonde is worrying as much as he is.

Forget that thought. From what he’s seen of ninja like Gaara there are a lot of things that can go wrong. One of them being marked as a target to have enemies underestimate anyone is a good point. Though Sasuke's pride makes him a bit disliking of the notion. If it hasn’t been for Naruto's stubbornness he likely might of been 'showing off' all he can. That’s probably why Naruto is reminding him. Sakura, unlike Sasuke, doesn’t need the reminder, not ever being one to showing off her skills to anyone, preferring to avoid conflicts with people other than Ino or someone who makes her mad. Though even then she won’t fight if it’s to be anything more than a catfight. Both Sasuke and Sakura notice the genjutsu over the door, wondering why Naruto is still going onto the floor. He really might of caught notice of it. Unless he’s planning on being a hypocrite to show off except there’s no perceivable reason as to why he isn’t just walking past it.

_Dobe, you do realize that this isn't the right floor,_ says Sasuke, keeping his thoughts to Team 7. 

Naruto has already told both he and Sakura about Teams 8 and 10 having communication devices. Sasuke doesn’t feel like broadcasting their conversations to the whole Rookie Nine. There will be a time later when that’s necessary. That time isn’t now though. Impatient, he hopes that the blonde knucklehead will make a move for where they need to go since clearly this isn’t the room they require.

_Yeah, I do, but there's some potential allies who also happen to be very powerful stuck outside this door,_ he explains, not liking the perplexing situation presenting itself before him and the rest of his team. 

He has another reason for stalling. Lee might be able to derail Sakura from liking Sasuke, meaning that she’ll be less hurt when she realizes that Sasuke is gay. She’ll also be more likely to advance faster if she isn’t busy obsessing over Sasuke. Besides, Naruto wants her to grow strong like Hinata, knowing the two kunoichi are more than capable of reaching their full potential. Lee might just freak her out. Still, it’ll encourage her to glue herself to Sasuke twice as much possibly. The second one will be hilarious though. So, it’s worth the risk of waiting outside the wrong door.

“Please, let us through!" a girl in a pink martial arts shirt with two buns says to the two genin blocking the door, but they just scoff to slam her.

_Don't let your guard down. Don’t let appearances fool you. That girl and her team are holding back too. They're way more powerful than they seem to be. Those two 'genin' are really chunin hidden under a genjutsu,_ Naruto tells his teammates as they nod because they’ve learned to trust his instincts and ability to perceive things that no one else notices.

_Which of us should point it out?_ Sakura asks since they’ve all notice it due to constant 'awareness training' from Naruto (which pretty much consists of daily or twice daily prank attempts though sometimes he might skip a day to keep them on edge), having had equal claim to pointing it out.

_I'm suppose to be the idiot. I like to keep people thinking that I'm a complete failure. Sakura, you're not the type who might go around bragging all the time unless you're around Ino. Sasuke's the obvious choice. What do you say, teme?_ Naruto asks through his explanation.

Sasuke doesn’t reply to just interrupt the two chunin who have been going on about how hard the chunin exams are to pass, "I agree, but you will let me pass through. You’ll also drop the genjutsu on this surrounding area."

_Don't mention the genjutsu on them!_ Naruto suddenly warns, stopping Sasuke from going any further. _It’s too high a level for most rookie to notice! Oh, Sakura, you might want to say something so teme doesn't steal all the spotlight._

Sakura mentally thanks him although she doesn’t broadcast it over the mind link. Her skills have greatly improved for her to begin to realize, with no small amount of guilt how utterly useless she’s been. It’s time for her to start changing things.

“What are they talking about?!" Several genin complains as Sakura takes this as her cue.

"It's kind of obvious even if you can't sense genjutsu,” she speaks up, keeping her voice from showing anything other than confidence. "I mean there's only one flight of stairs between here and the ground floor.” 

She thought it might be beneficial to downplay their group's intelligence and observational skills in perceiving genjutsu by adding that. She not only manages her goal, but makes most if not all of the genin gathering there feel quite stupid.

“Yeah, Sakura's right. This is only the second floor,” pipes up the blonde, his tone and facial expression makes it look like he’s merely picking up on what his teammates are saying, being overly confident about it.

"So, you notice it," one of the genin says.

"Not bad," says the other as he charges at Sasuke, swinging into a kick. “But all you have done is see through it.” 

_Don’t move!_

The warning stops Sasuke immediately in his tracks. He’s been preparing to kick his assailant. Schooling his features to nonchalant instinctually though before he can wonder why Naruto has given the warning has a green blur jump in front of him, catching the attacking genin's leg. Sasuke consciously relaxes himself, acting as if he’s known that the other genin will intercept the blow. How has he been capable of moving so fast? How has Naruto known the green spandex wearing ninja will catch the guy's foot? Sasuke instantly sees what Naruto has intended though. If he'd kicked the genin/ chunin he might of had his foot caught by Lee. Then he might of appear to be weak in comparison even if they are trying to downplay their skills so the other teams will underestimate them, not labeling them as major threats. None of them want to appear to be easy prey. If he’s dodged then he might of seemed a little jumpy and easily frightened, dodging from a threat that doesn’t exist. By just standing there, and not seeming surprised, he appears calm as if to be in control. It also makes it seem as if he’s known Lee will interrupt the fight.

"Hey," his teammate, a Hyuuga, says. "What happened to the plan? You are the one saying that we aren’t suppose to be drawing attention to ourselves…” 

Both Sasuke and Sakura note that their injuries have vanished. Have they been exaggerating the amount of damage they’ve taken? Naruto doesn’t even bother wondering about it.

"Well," Lee begins, heat rushing to his cheeks to coat them lightly. His female teammate, Tenten, sighs as she begins shaking her head. 

“Hi,” he says to Sakura, walking up to her. "My name is Rock Lee. So, yours is Sakura…"

Sakura has a bad feeling about this. Naruto begins giggling mentally. Due to how he’s not attempting to shield his thoughts, Sasuke, who’s been practicing stretching his mind out, he listens through the communication devices for stray thoughts. What he caught is how this is the first time he’s ever caught anyone other than Kiba's and Ino's thoughts. So, he’s briefly surprised to always have run into a massive barrier when he tries to read Naruto's thoughts before rather than the simple inability to grasp thoughts he has with the others.

_Why is he giggling?_ Sasuke wonders idly.

_Brat, the Uchiha caught you giggling,'_ Kurama warns him, careful to not even let a trace of the possibility that someone else might be talking leak out. _He’s getting better at an extreme rate. We'll have to warn the others to be even more careful with their thoughts._

Naruto mentally nods, quieting his mental giggling in such a way that it won’t set off red flags in Sasuke's mind. That he’s been noticed, he instantly sent a message, this time he disguises it with extra precaution, to Gaara, Haku, Zabuza, and Kin. All of this goes on in the space between Lee's sentences.

"I want you to be my girlfriend,” announces Lee. "I shall protect you with my youth and life.” 

_Sakura, he's a potential ally. Don't be too hard on him. This is a great time to practice your kunoichi skills_ , Naruto says before Sakura can even insult Lee.

She has to agree although she really doesn’t want to. The point of being a kunoichi is to get information using methods that in most cases won’t work with a male ninja. Although there has been several examples of when a male is needed considering that they can do it fairly well too. if Sasuke is any indication, her flirting and seducing skills are lacking, Naruto is probably better at it than her. Oh, if only she knows though.

"Well… that's really sweet of you,” begins Sakura to say, unsure of what else to say to him to placate the promise given, not wanting to encourage him even though she’s trying to keep Naruto's words in mind to not insult him. “But I'm interested in Sasuke. You’re really not my type.” 

Before Lee can say anything, Neji steps up to talk, “You. What's your name?" 

"It's rude to expect someone to give you their name without giving your own first," replies Sasuke icily.

"You're a rookie, right? How old are you?" Neji continues, pressing for any information that might be useful.

"Hn, if you're always so obvious about interrogating someone, then you'll never learn anything," smirks Sasuke, not allowing him to get the better of him. "Let's go."

Turning on his heel, he walks off down the corridor. Naruto catches up to him quickly, falling into step next to him. Sakura trails behind by about two feet, standing an equal distance from both males. Neji doesn’t fail to notice how. Despitetheir rivalry both of them are content to share the lead, noticing how Sakura is trailing behind them. What is also notable is that Sasuke and Naruto are almost touching for Sakura to seem reluctant to crowd them even though she’s said she’s interested in Sasuke. Both the blonde and raven are according to what he knows normally at each other's throats. Reason will says that they might walk much farther apart probably with Sakura in between them. So, why don’t they?

“Lee, what are you doing?" Tenten asks her off-kilter teammate.

"You guys go ahead," he says. "There is something I have to do."

Running to catch up with Team 7, he stops on the balcony overlooking their position, “Hey! Guy with the dark eyes!" 

"What is it?" he asks, flicking his gaze backwards to the one calling out to gain his attention.

"I challenge you to a fight! Right here, right now!" Declares Leein his typical manner.

Naruto instantly starts weighing the pros and cons of Sasuke fighting Lee. There is no one other than the bushy eyebrowed genin and his sensei here to view them fight. So, it won’t give too much away. Also, learning Lee's moves can be beneficial for Sasuke. But there is the risk of Lee gaining an advantage in a later fight if he and Sasuke meet up again during the exams. The risk of Gai not interrupting fast enough for Sasuke or Lee getting hurt is something that concerns him.

_Let him have his pride,_ says Kurama, knowing many soldiers from the past can be this way, knowing their ambitions are difficult to sway away once someone’s mind is set.

_Be careful. He's way tougher than he looks. His hands are majorly bandaged. So, his strength probably is taijutsu. Try not to use any advanced techniques if you can avoid it,_ cautions Naruto. 

Really, he is beginning to get excessive with all of his warnings. Why does he rarely warn Sakura? This goes in tandem with whether or not she might do anything risky. Though he chalks it up to while he has similar adoration towards both of his teammates is that he has an infatuation with Sasuke that sometimes might cloud his jugement. 

“”I want to fight you, to test my strengths against the offspring of the Uchiha clan," explains Lee hurriedly. “Plus, I want to prove that I am better than you to win the heart of Sakura.” 

_Sakura, leave it_ , Sasuke says, knowing that Sakura is about to complain. 

He won’t be too unhappy if she starts going out with Lee. She’ll leave him alone then. As long as she doesn’t bring her boyfriend anywhere near him then he won’t mind at all.

_Sure thing, Sasuke-kun,_ hesitantly she replies, quelling her anger.

“You're a fool to challenge me, knowing the Uchiha name. I'll show you what the name means, bushy brows,” glares Sasuke, preparing to engage in a little skirmish of sorts before they can attend the first part of the examinations.

"I'll say this: You guys cannot defeat me. Because, right now, I am the strongest genin in Konoha," Lee says with equal vigor.

Sasuke smirks. "So you think. Sounds fun. I'll do it."

“Sasuke-kun, we only have thirty minutes until the meeting,” complains Sakura, not wanting to be late for it.

"Then I'll be done in five minutes. Don’t worry, Sakura.” 

Keeping Naruto's warning in mind, Sasuke turns on his Sharingan to slow down the match. He watches Lee's muscle movements carefully, knowing that the muscles tense up before actually being put to use. Thanks to knowing that Lee is using taijutsu ahead of time along with rigorous training in reaction time, perceiving things with his Sharingan, taijutsu, and speed, Sasuke fares much better than he has in the previous timeline even though he doesn’t suffer the same level of utter defeat. Lee is still able to trap Sasuke in his Leaf Shadow dance for him to then begins to wrap him up before Gai interrupts. Falling to the ground, too stunned to react in time to fall without doing himself damage, Naruto dashes forward to catch Sasuke in his arms, grunting at the sudden increase in weight. He manages to keep his balance though. Holding Sasuke for a second or two more than he probably is necessary, he slowly sets his teammate down. 

“Are you alright?” The jinchurriki asks his teammate in concern.

“Yeah, you don't have to worry so much, dobe," replies Sasuke, swatting Naruto's hand that still rests on his shoulder away.

“I’m not worried about you, teme! It's just that if you break something in your stupidity then I can't enter the exams,” says Naruto instantly.

Sakura hangs back, subconsciously knowing that it isn’t her place to intervene. That Naruto is the one with the most right to fuss over Sasuke has her instincts to begin to realize since the Wave mission that she isn’t the team member who can ever lay claim to Sasuke, having affected the way she interacts with him even if she never really understands why. She’s beginning to detach from her ditzy fangirl self though. Her conscious mind is slowly beginning to realize what her subconscious mind already knows. They turn to see a turtle admonishing Lee as Sakura and Sasuke are a little confused. Their questions are given answers when Gai poofs on top of the turtle. Gai and Lee's conversation goes pretty much the same as it has in the original timeline. When they starts hugging Sasuke and Sakura stares although Naruto ignores it. He’s become used to Gai and Lee's eccentricities in the original timeline. Kurama has strangely enough, known even weirder people. So, she’s notaffected at all. Gai finishes assigning Lee his punishment, turning to the three rookies. Naruto is staring off into space while Sasuke is scowling, and Sakura is still gaping.

"Hey you guys! How's Kakashi doing?" Gai asks, addressing the members of Team 7, genuinely wanting to know about his lifetime rival.

"…You know Kakashi?" Wonders Sasuke aloud, annoyed and curious at the same time.

"Know him? Hehe,” Gai says before speeding over to stand behind the three genin to cause Naruto to blink, Sakura to freak out, and Sasuke shows slight signs of surprise. "We're eternal rivals! Fifty wins, forty-nine losses… I'm stronger than Kakashi!"

"You've probably only won so many times because Kakashi-sensei's too lazy to fight you," points out Naruto, not even reacting to Gai's speed or claim of having won against Kakashi.

Gai decides not to comment as lee says, “See! Gai-sensei is incredible!" 

"Sorry about Lee. I swear that it won't happen again,” assures Gai.

Sasuke isn’t so shocked about Gai's prowess or speed this time, Naruto's comment about Kakashi's laziness reminds him of, well, Kakashi's laziness. They probably haven’t ever seen the jounin's true speed before. There’s no way he’s actually bothered in many if any of his contests against Gai.

"You guys and Lee need to probably head over to the classroom. Good luck, Lee. See you all later!” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie twenty-eight. I’m excited for Lee and his team to show up personally. Kakashi and Gai are definitely a sailable ship indeed, but y’all know what ships I prefer by now. Sometimes I try new ones if I feel like it though. Hmm, with the Chunin Exams means there will be quite some action coming up during the matches…._ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever it’s finished being revised. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	29. Ember

**_Alrighty, here's the next chappie for, Chasms of Sixteen. I plan to reach up to finishing chappie thirty today. I still have quite a lot to still get through with this. Revising stuff is fun and relaxing for me personally. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, let's get on with it. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 29: Ember**

Lee starts to rewind his bandages. No one on Team 7 this time around fails to noticed the multitude of scars covering his knuckles. It causes Sasuke and Sakura to wonder where he's even managed to receive such marks on them. Though Naruto knows of course, inwardly feeling sympathy for him.

"Sasuke-kun, one more thing. The truth is, I come here to test my abilities," finishing up wrapping his bandages, Lee continues. "I lied to you before. The truth is that the strongest genin in Konoha is likely on my team. I've entered this to defeat him. You're also one of my targets. Be prepared during the exams."

Jumping onto the ceiling before running away leaves Team 7 to not speak much as they continue towards the classroom. This is where the first exam is to take place. Kakashi is standing outside the door, waiting around for when his students might show up. Of course he's taken into account that the obstacles might slow them down. THus, giving him time to read his book a bit in peace.

"So, Sakura comes to join us too? Good," says Kakashi, but his team proves to not be as confused as he thought they might be. "Now, we can properly take the exam."

"If you're going to say that only teams of three can take the exam then we already figured that out," says Sakura with a light glare, not being foolish to let something like that pass her by.

"What makes you think that we won't figure it out, Kakashi-sensei?" Asks Naruto, seeing his teacher's surprise at this. "We're assigned into teams of three. Besides, let one or two members take the exam will throw off teamwork. That's something that probably needs to be tested in order to become chunin. Plus, everyone else who's taking this exam is taking it in teams of three."

Kakashi smiles at this deduction, "Well, I guess I underestimate you guys… Go on ahead then."

As his team opens the door to walk through, Kakashi's smile fades. None of them can be able to figure out that he's been lying when he said that the test is an individual choice. Sakura isn't perceptive enough of people's motives while Sasuke isn't able to read emotions or even look outside himself that much. That leaves Naruto who's shown a startling ability at perception that defies all previous data from the Academy. Still, his perceptive abilities haven't shown themselves to be enough to see through the lies of an ex-ANBU that specializes in subterfuge. At least that isn't until now. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura enter the room in their usual formation. it's the same one they've been in when they walked away from Team Gai earlier. They immediately notice the large number of people in the room. Sakura is stunned, never thinking that so many people will take this exam! Sasuke is starting to feel concerned. There are a lot of potential enemies along with few potential allies. Naruto is starting to feel annoyed at seeing the amount of people here. This many people will indeed make it all that much harder to get through the chunin exams, making for a lot of x factors. If even one of them acts in a way he hasn't predicted then maybe passing an exam they haven't previously or taking out an enemy of theirs who's Naruto's ally or taking out one of Naruto's enemies later, his entire plan can be screwed up. Sadly, there's nothing he can do about it. So, he subtly scans the room, locating Gaara and his team, the other rookies, Team Gai, the team from Sound, Kabuto, and his team, the team that Orochimaru will or has taken over including the team that Haku and two of his clones have replaced is all he can see here thus far. He's decided that it's best for now to have Haku be close by in the exams, but since Haku isn't good at taking over someone's identity that he doesn't know well convincingly enough to fool everyone that know his target, being perceptive enough to subterfuge, It's best that he doesn't try to replace Kin. Haku couldn't even fake her bell genjutsu. So, that's out of the question entirely even more. Naruto also locates teams that can possibly pose a threat, noting to avoid them at all costs.

"Sasuke-kun! You're late," shouts Ino, latching on to Sasuke.

All members of Team 7 tense up. Sasuke doesn't like having his personal space avoided. Naruto although he isn't sure enough of himself to actually flirt with Sasuke is possessive of his crush. Sakura even though she's beginning to think of Sasuke as hers less and less as she realizes it isn't her place to try to grab his attention, but she does know that Ino isn't worthy of Sasuke, not wanting to lose in any way to the other kunoichi.

Ino pouts, "I haven't seen you in forever!"

Before either Sakura or Naruto can yell at Ino to get off of Sasuke, he shrugs her off himself, sending her crashing to the floor, "Will you stop being so annoying?"

Whatever patience he has with obsessive fangirls has taken a nose dive after Sakura has ceased obsessing over him. Plus he feels as strange form of annoyance, the kind he'll likely fall if she's asking him out. Apparently, others can't tell that he already is interested in someone else. The only problem with that is that he doesn't think he's interested in someone else. Ino is shocked that Sasuke has shrugged her off like that. Why the hell does he do that? He never has before! The only reason Ino can think of is if he's going out with someone else or wants to. But the only girl he has regular contact with is Sakura. There's no way Sakura has won Sasuke in such a short amount of time. So, then why is Sasuke acting like this? Shikamaru doesn't fail to notice how quickly Sasuke has shrugged Ino off nor how Naruto has gotten even angrier than Sakura when Ino pounces on Sasuke. Noticing the same things about their walking formation that Neji has. He wonders why isn't Sakura jumping to put down Ino about her rejection by Sasuke? All the pink haired girl has done is to giggle lightly. This isn't what he's expecting to happen. It takes way more investigation to unravel the mystery that is Naruto and the rest of Team 7 than he's previously thought before.

"Yahoo! Found ya!" Shouts Kiba, seeing the other two teams that make up the Rookie Nine.

"H-Hello," stammers out Hinata, seeing Naruto.

"Well, well, seems like everyone is here," says Kiba excitedly.

"Not you guys too…" mumbles Shikamaru in dismay.

"I see the entire Rookie Nine has decided to take the exams," Kiba continues, ignoring Shikamaru. "Let's see how far we get, eh Sasuke?"

"Don't be cocky, Kiba. You need to learn to not challenge your superiors," replies Sasuke coldly.

"Hey, you! We did a lot of training, so there's no WAY we're going to lose to a bunch of weaklings like you guys!" Kiba all but yells out in defiance.

"Heh. We'll see about that," smiles Naruto slightly, having his own plans and tricks up his sleeves.

"YOU!" Kiba begins only to be given an interjection by Kabuto.

"Hey, you guys…. You need to be more quiet. You guys are rookies just out of the Academy, right? You don't need to be screaming like school girls. This exam's way harder than you might think," says the gray haired male, walking up to the genin, adjusting his glasses a bit.

"Who do you think you are?" Ino challenges him.

"I'm Kabuto, but that isn't the point. Look behind you."

Everyone except for Naruto listens, turning to see pretty much the whole room glaring at them. Naruto just keeps his eyes confidently fixed on Kabuto. An unspoken challenge reflects in his blue orbs. Kabuto is a little confused by Naruto's behavior to say the least. This goes against all data he's gathered. The Sound spy doesn't let it show how much he's been unsettled. It isn't a good idea to show weakness to an enemy, deciding to continue as he planned with his superior.

"Those guys behind you are from Amegakure. They have short tempers. Everyone here's nervous about the exam. You can tell everyone is on edge because of it…. So, quiet down before you cause a scene. Well, I can't blame you. You're clueless rookies. You remind me of how I used to be," shrugs Kabuto, guessing he can't help how they're acting due to being right out of the Academy to end up here.

"Kabuto-san, right?" Sakura asks. Receiving a nod from him as she continues to question him. "So, this is your second time?"

"Actually, it's my seventh…. Due to how the exams are held every six months and twice a year, this is my fourth year," admits Kabuto, passing off this as if it's common knowledge though he has a reason for this.

"Wow, you know a lot about this exam…" comments Sakura, wondering what else this guy might know.

"That's right. I'll even share some of my knowledge with you rookies. With these nin-info cards," says Kabuto, his lips curving into a slight smile as he whisks out his stack of cards.

"Nin-info cards?" Asks Sakura as everyone in the Rookie Nine's full attention is on him now.

His explanation goes pretty much exactly the same as it has in the original timeline. When Kabuto confirms that he has information of specific individuals is when it starts changing. This perplexes Naruto, wondering what he's exactly up to here.

"I want to know about Rock Lee, Subaku no Gaara, and Uzumaki Naruto," says Sasuke, intent on finding out what is up with his teammate.

Kabuto glances up suddenly, as the entire Rookie Nine turn to look at Sasuke. Naruto's eyes narrow almost imperceptibly, wondering what the Uchiha desires to know in particular.

"You want information on your own teammate?" Kabuto asks in surprise, wondering if he suspects that Naruto holds Kurama within him or perhaps there's another reason for his inquiry.

"Is there a problem with you showing me any information you have on him?" Presses Sasuke, not letting up anytime soon.

"No," says Kabuto, whisking out the three cards, not able to show the Rookie Nine all the information on Naruto's card without getting in trouble with the ANBU, but he doesn't have a censored version available, not thinking that anyone in the Rookie Nine might question him about Naruto of all people, meaning that he hasn't been prepared to make it look suspicious to black some things out, but he'll have to.

"I'm sorry that I can't show you everything," says Kabuto almost apoplectically, not giving any explanation as to why.

Shikamaru and Sasuke both start calculating what that can possibly mean. The only real reason to not show them everything is if something is classified that Kabuto has found out. Sasuke thinks that it might be something to do with Naruto's bloodline, but that's a secret confined to the ANBU. if they even know anything of to be very suspicious that Kabuto knows anything classified, even if it's common knowledge in the ANBU. Both Sasuke and Shikamaru realize this.

Kabuto continues on as if nothing has happened, inadvertently insulting Oto just as he has in the original timeline. Although this time around Naruto doesn't yell at the crowd of chunin hopefuls like he has originally, the team from Oto decide to attack. Kin let Naruto know ahead of time, telling her to just play along so that she won't look suspicious. Naruto doesn't intervene. Kabuto actually ends up more hurt than he has originally. Kin has interpreted Naruto's 'go ahead' as 'I really don't care if you wail on this guy' to take some of her pent up frustration out on him. Naruto fights back a smile, not even rushing forwards when Kabuto starts throwing up. He knows the value of fooling his opponents, but he doesn't want to give the spy a viable reason for being anywhere near his team. Before the fight can escalate anymore, they are interrupted by the entrance of Ibiki and the other exam proctors.

"Break it up! No fighting in my classroom!" Ibiki shouts at the Sound shinobi.

The following orders go pretty much as they do the last time, the genin all taking their assigned seats. Naruto immediately takes notes of everyone's positions. He manages to get a seat at the very back of the class, in a corner. This way he can watch everyone without easily being watched in turn. (Well, they won't be able to watch him without his knowledge unless they have some fancy jutsu going, but even then he can probably sense their chakra signatures. This time, none of the Rookie Nine are seated together. Sasuke'd manages to get unlucky to be seated in the first row, unable to use his Sharingan to copy anything without being completely obvious. Gaara is seated directly in front of Naruto. Everyone else is scattered haphazardly in the middle of the room. Ibiki starts explaining the exam. Sakura, just like last time, questions him about it, beginning just as they originally have.

 _Any of you guys get this_? Naruto asks the other members of the Rookie Nine.  _My math isn't this high of a level yet._

 _Naruto! He said we can't cheat,_ replies Sakura, not aiming her thoughts at only the Rookie Nine, but instead broadcasting to everyone although luckily Naruto has warned Kin, Haku, Zabuza, and Gaara that this might happen for them to not react to it.

Gaara, Kin, and Haku have all decided to use the communication devices to answer the questions. If the Rookie Nine don't broadcast then they'll just ask Naruto. The reasoning behind their tactics is that their own ways of gathering information might be noticeable. Points might be deducted to be especially important for Haku to keep his abilities secret due to how they're so exclusive.

 _Sakura, the point of this exam is to test our ability to gather information without being noticed,_ Sasuke explains, having taken into account as to what the purpose of this part is precisely.

He, despite not knowing that others have communication devices, limits his words to the Rookie Nine. His reasoning though is that if he can listen to private thoughts that aren't blocked then who knows who is listening in to broadcasted thoughts that aren't even remotely protected from detection or disguise. As to not be able to be read, Sasuke has enough healthy paranoia to not take the risk.

 _Oops_ , replies Sakura sheepishly, wanting to not look like a useless ditz instead of the definition of one.

 _I don't get this, either. Any of you mind sharing?_ Ino asks even though with being psychic also knows the dangers of broadcasting thoughts for her to also keeping hers to the Rookie Nine.  _Oh, Sakura, please stop broadcasting your thoughts. We don't want someone who can be an enemy or who can just get us in trouble for having these hear them…_

 _Ino's right, Sakura_ , Naruto says before the bubble gum haired kunoichi can reply.  _Anyone with any sensitivity to chakra can probably tell you're doing something weird. Anyone with a similar communication device will be able to pick up on your side of the conversation._

Sakura resists the urge to visibly hag her head, not wanting to make the situation any worse,  _I'm sorry._

 _Don't worry about it,_ Sasuke actually replies, causing Sakura's temporary elation that he's trying to comfort her is completely crushed when he continues.  _Just tell us the answers. You're smart enough to figure these out, right?_

 _Well, at the least he thinks I actually have a use. An improvement I guess,_ Sakura thought to herself before launching into an explanation of the problems, their answers, and what the other Rookies need to put down on their work.

Naruto opens a second channel with Gaara, Haku, and Kin, relaying the information given to him by Sakura. Ibiki surveys the room, picking out how everyone is cheating. The Hyuga by the name of Neji, is being extremely obvious. Does he seriously think that no one will notice the veins bulging around his eyes? He's still cheating above low chunin level though. So, Ibiki has to let it pass. His two teammates are also being obvious. Those large mirrors that have randomly appeared on the ceiling are like, so hard not to notice. The Suna guy with the puppet. Does he really think that Ibiki won't notice that one of his proctors has been replaced? And so it goes…. Wait a second… What the hell? He can't even tell how the Rookie Nine are cheating here. Not only them, but that Oto girl, one of the kids from the Mist, and that creepy Suna redhead are also undetectable in their cheating. Other than the occasional odd chakra flare, he's expecting one, maybe two or even three or four of the genin to be able to figure out the test without help, but the entire Rookie Nine definetely isn't this intelligent! He can't say about the other three, not having their stats as far as intelligence goes.

The only two of the Rookie Nine who probably are able to figure this out on their own are Shikamaru and maybe Sakura. No way is the dead last that intelligent…. Sasuke has never been shown to be good at math. It's the same thing with Ino, Chouji, Kiba, and Hinata. He doesn't know about Shino, but the Aburame clan aren't known for having brains good at solving mathmatical equations. There's no way any of them are cheating so well that he won't notice. Unless those stories about how much the fox jinchurriki has been hiding his power and intelligence are true. He's even caught wind that he's figured out that the Wave mission he and his team had been assigned is actually an A-rank mission, not a C-rank, almost as soon as he got it. He'd discredits the story though, not thinking that the blonde can actually be that intelligent and to have hidden it for so long. But if Naruto is behind the strange behaviors of the Rookie Nine then that means that he's somehow figured out a way for them to communicate or to cheat without getting caught.

Ibiki starts focusing on their chakra flares. He can't detect any from Naruto, thinking it strange for even the calmest of genin will likely be experiencing flares due to stress. Plus, Naruto is known for being emotional and over reactive. The chakra flares of the others seem to be following a pattern, though, almost as if they are speaking. Something nags at him about Naruto's chakra signature. It's perfectly normal, noticing the lack of chakra flares can simply be explained as the blonde finally growing up to learn to center himself. Only a few genin have been able to do over the years. But Naruto's signature is too normal, finding it suspicious due to how he's a jinchurriki instead of a human. So, why does he have the chakra signature of a normal human instead of what he truly is?

 _There's no way he's successfully masking his chakra signature. Even completely erasing your chakra signature's a hard skill to learn. Being able to change its appearance and to such a level is even harder,_ Ibiki thought, mildly puzzled and worried.

If the blonde can hide his chakra signature so well, then he might be more in contact with the demon than any of them have thought possible. It's only a theory though driven to arrive at by instinct. If there's one thing Ibiki has learned, is that it's to trust his instincts. This will have to be looked into further later. He knows as most jounin knows that Kakashi has been assigned specifically to watch his student, having given reports to nothing being amiss other than the occasional show of intelligence from Naruto. Has the jounin been fooled by his own student? Ibiki decides that he'll have to find out. Naruto flips his test over, grinning at his success. The communication devices and his plan, have worked perfectly! He hasn't even found a need to beg Kurama for help this time.

 _Kit, you're still going to have to learn how to do those problems_ the kitsune replies, knowing that Naruto thinks that he's able to skip the almost immpossible problems since he ends up not having to do them this time.

 _Why are you calling me Kit_?' Naruto asks, noticing she's been using that towards him.

 _Because you are one,_ responds Kurama as if it's common sense.  _In demonic dialect has brat referring to someone that's breast while kit is a more endearing term. Both I mean in an affectionate way if you haven't been able to tell by now…._

It's ten to twenty minutes of silence, tension so thick in the air that anyone can't even be able to cut through it with a knife. The weapon will merely end up stuck in the chakra to stress signals infused air.

"Okay! Time's up! If your pencil's still in your hand five seconds from now you are cheating!" Ibiki announces as everyone's pencils clatters to the desks.

The explanation of the tenth question goes pretty much the same, except this time Naruto warns the Rookie Nine to not give up. For himself, he doesn't interrupt, consequentially at seeing many of the shinobi who stay on before drops out. Instead of seventy eight passing has only forty eight to pas onto the next exam. Sixteen teams are there instead of twenty six.

"To the forty eight who remain. Congratulations on passing the first test."

**_Oks, that's the end of chappie twenty-nine. I hope you all enjoyed it. The next one will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	30. Impact

**_Well, hello there, y’all! Welcome to the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Hmm, well, we’ll be furthering along with the plot of course. So, this is consisting of after passing the first exam. I’m sure it’ll be interesting as we continue along with this. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 30: Impact**

“ What?!?” Naruto has one of his clones, in the disguise as the kunoichi on Haku's ‘team shout. “Then like what is the point of this whole thing? Is it just to screw with us? What has happened to the tenth question, huh?"

"There never is a tenth question unless you count those two choices," answers Ibiki casually, not really paying much mind to it.

"Then what are the first nine for? Are they just pointless?” Asks Temari, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly.

_Your cue to show off, Sasuke,_ sends Naruto to the Uchiha, sensing that the various jounin and chunin are getting suspicious to think it best to downplay his own skills to question who really knows He might even be able to get all of his successes in contribution to Sasuke.

_Funny how things have changed,_ Naruto thought bemusedly. _In the original timeline I might of been horrified to think of Sasuke getting all the glory…. I might of fought it tooth and nail._

_Careful not to let his ego get too inflated, kit,_ chuckles Kurama.

_Yeah, I know_ , assures Naruto.

“They are to test our information gathering sskills. It’s also to set the stage for the tenth question to make us more apprehensive of actually taking it, Aren’t they?" Sasuke confirms as he smirks a bit smugly, figuring he has it right. 

He knows that Naruto wants to draw attention away from himself. It’s kind of obvious with how paranoid Naruto has been earlier about being found out, having skills revealed. It only adds to the mystery that is the blonde. 

“The questions are also designed to put pressure on a team as a whole; especially the slower members of a group. That makes us more likely to freak out and mess up. The questions are designed so that a genin won’t be able to answer them most times, having to cheat to pass,” finishes up the Uchiha, staring at him as if giving a silent challenge if he’s wrong.

Ibiki grins slightly, “Good observation, Uchiha. There are two chunin placed in the crowd who already know the answers to help you guys out. Of course, any that cheat below a low chunin level are out.” 

He pauses, taking his headband off to reveal scars and burns, “Because in many situations, information is more important than life. On missions and the battlefield, people risk their lives and sanity to get it." 

He continues to explain it, his speech going the same as it has originally.

“I still don't get the tenth question,” says Temari.

His explanation, once again, follows the original timeline. The 'to be or not to be' question, as Kurama calls it in a sense. Naruto doesn’t get the reference. Without warning, he and the rest of those here see a dark haired woman appear. Seeing her here doesn’t prove to be a good sign considering she’s the daughter and first student of Orochimaru’s.

“You're early, Anko," notes Ibiki at seeing the fellow jounin in question appear in the room.

She sweatdropped, but covers her embarrassment by blowing up at Ibiki for the number of teams left, “Forty-eight?! You left sixteen teams? What the hell! This test's way to easy!" 

“This time there are a lot of outstanding ones," answers Ibiki with a shrug, well known to how Anko can be at times.

Snorting, she dismisses this, “Whatever. Less than half of them will be left by the time I'm done with them."

The chunin hopefuls don’t like the sound of that. Though they’ll have to deal with it. The next exam won’t be as easy as the previous one. After if they complete this next one then they’ll be available to pass on to the matches that will take place in the grand stadium where they always take place. 

“I’ll explain everything once the second exam begins. Your jounin sensei will be given the location and time of the actual exam. Don't be late,” announces Anko to them before she poofs out though it isn’t as nearly as dramatically as she'd enters earlier.

Ibiki sighs at her peppiness as the genin fill out of the room to go back to doing whatever it is they do in their spare time. Why is Anko a jounin again? Some time later, Naruto takes a deep breath as they walk up to the gates. There’s less competition this time, but that also means that there are fewer options for the scrolls. Most of the people who have dropped out have been the weaker teams, meaning the Rookie Nine will be prime targets. They definitely can’t let Orochimaru destroy their scroll this time around. That means that they will need to have to find two scrolls instead of one. The one in the possession of Orochimaru's 'team' is out of the question. Naruto knows that he’ll never be able to face Orochimaru in his current condition. If he goes over the top by more than the most minor of margins despite his ability to adapt and the new seal, he’ll more than likely die. If he goes more than half a tail over his current limit. Definitely he’ll probably die, knowing from experience that it takes more than four tails to kill Orochimaru. No, he can’t forget about the one he’ll be able to access if he’s willing to put himself into the hospital until the third stage of the chunin exams.

Another thing is that he can’t risk a prolonged stay in the hospital or any stay at all really. The medic nins aren’t as oblivious as the ones in Wave. The ones here actually know the design of his previous seal. They probably will certainly notice the difference. Naruto knows fairly well enough that he’ll never be able to explain away being on good enough terms with the fox for his current seal to function properly. He’ll just have to avoid Orochimaru at all costs. There’s nothing else he can do about it.

_Kit, what are you going to do if you can't avoid him?_ Asks Kurama, knowing he’ll need to figure out a few strategies if they run across the serpentine Sanin.

Remaining silent for a few seconds, he then responds. _I'll distract him for as long as I can. Then I’ll send Sakura and Sasuke to Lee and his team. I’ll also tell them and the others to alert the ANBU to tell them my general location. I'll probably have Hinata and her team report it since Hinata will be able to see him without getting too close, Kiba will be able to smell him while Shino is able to sense his chakra. So, it won't arouse too much suspicion._

Both of them know that it’s a risky plan. Orochimaru is fast, cunning, and resourceful. On the other hand, he’s powerful enough to accomplish whatever his goals are. There’s no guarantee that Naruto will even be able to distract him for long enough to let Sasuke and Sakura so much as begin to run.

_What if you're not powerful enough?_ Asks Kurama quietly, clearly worrisome about her container.

Naruto grows silent for even longer. He already knows what he’ll do in that situation. The only concern is how Kurama will react.

_I'll go beyond the limits of my body. I’ll pull out however much power is necessary to save at the least Sasuke, but preferably also Sakura. I won't just abandon the world though. I'll release you. Now that your memory has come back along with it your skills you have the ability to suppress your chakra until it's almost unnoticeable. I'll even leave you chakra to mask your power with. You're a good actor, you know. I’m sure you’ll be able to take my form before the ANBU arrive. I know you’re able to lie your way out of using the extra energy. You were one of the rebelling pair before, and sealed into your replacement. You know me better than anyone else. You can take my place in the face of the world or at the least help the next rebelling pair along the correct path to make the fight easier._

**_Oks, that’s where we’ll end chappie thirty. I apologize if it’s a little short, but that happens sometimes. I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	31. Clutch

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Well, now we’re up to in the thirties chappie amount wise. Hmm, well, I don’t quite know how long this will be exactly. We’ll see how it goes I suppose._ **

**_Anyway, let’s get on with the story, alright? I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 31: Clutch**

Gazing at the mental representation of Naruto, sadness reflects deep within her now green eyes. In her stare, he truly is a kit She’s a thousand by the time she ever comes across death. He, at the time back then, was sixteen, preparing to die for his love. Knowing that, if it’s merely Sakura then he’s protecting, that Naruto won’t let himself be killed. Becoming depressed except he won’t sacrifice the world for her. Sasuke is another issue entirely. Death, for Naruto, will be entirely different than it will be for his friends and his precious people. It’s against the Laws of Physics for a demon to time travel. It’s not against any laws to help someone time travel though it’s taboo. The only law regarding time travel that has been set in place by anyone other than the Universe itself refers to the time traveler himself. It has been illegal since the time of the Old Bloods and before in all of the worlds to travel backwards or forwards in time. The punishment varies depending on how much the individual changes. Naruto’s been planning on preventing one of the largest and most devastating wars in their world's history. He most likely will get the maximum sentence which is eternal damnation. The blonde will gladly accept the price.

While most beings are simply given the option of reincarnation. Occasionally those who do become so enlightened as to be removed from the cycle or so attached to their physical form and life that they’re stuck on the Earth as banshees, Naruto will fall into a cold, empty void, where he’ll be punished by being given exactly what he’s been searching for. That is the Past, being made to relive the worst moments in his life and the lives of those precious to him. The cycle will go over and over again. He will live out the miseries of all the worlds, every hurt and pain felt. All because he decides to change things although he knows this, too. He can’t have traveled into the past without being informed of the risks. Those are things he has accepted though. Despite everything. The question remains of why. It hasn’t been because he wants to save the world. Someone else can always do that even if a great war starts in this world even if it destroys this world including everyone in it, it likely won’t carry over to other worlds and dimensions. Life will go on elsewhere. He doesn’t do it to save Konoha or to save his teammates and companions. Their souls will continue on since they mostly have been good in life to remain untainted. He’s jumped at the chance to change things for one reason and one reason alone.

It’s Sasuke of course. it all comes back to the raven haired Uchiha. His soul has been branded by Orochimaru, a brand that will echo across a million or more lifetimes. The curse seal alone damns him for a hundred. The second level, for a thousand, absorbing a snake demon who’s wreaked havoc in a hundred worlds into his body rather than killing it? If the goddesses and gods are having a really good day, a little over a million. There’s no upper limit though it won’t last for all of his lifetimes for sure. If none of that has ever happened then his soul can’t be held accountable. Kurama remains puzzled by the depth and intensity of his emotions for Sasuke. It has taken a century of traveling a world on the brink of war with just the two of them, half a century in the company of her charges' long deceased family, and another century and a half of strife for them to fully realize how much they mean to each other when it comes to her and her mate. Naruto's world has revolved around Sasuke since they’ve first become genin in the original timeline. The first time he has ever used her power in any significant amount has been to avenge what he’s thought is Sasuke's death. He’s used the power a second time against an unbeatable opponent to protect him, starting to use her power deliberately not only to survive and get by but mostly to impress Sasuke, to make himself seem worthy of the Uchiha's attention. He’s nearly died to bring out a tail of power long before he’s ready just to convince Sasuke to stay by his side.

Defying Jiraiya to slip away to train in secret after the Sannin has prohibited him from using her power, he’s fought Orochimaru once again, that time pulling out so much power that his flesh burned off. He nearly lost his mind during that time. He’s signed his death warrant over the thought of himself possibly hurting Sasuke when trapped in Itachi's Tsukiyomi. He’s died in the most painful way possible when he released Kurama into the world, to take the revenge that he can’t after Sasuke died. All for the ravenmale. Doing it all again, Naruto will damn the entire world if it means that he’ll be able to protect Sasuke. Kurama knows this, feeling that Naruto’s dedication to Sasuke is the only thing she fears due to how the only thing she can’t fight against.

“Alright, you maggots!" Shouts out Anko, bringing everyone's attention to her. “Listen up! This is the start of the second exam. The exam will take place in the Forest of Death. You’ll each be given a scroll, marked Heaven or Earth. You need to get whichever scroll you don't have from another team before heading to the Tower. You have five days to complete the exam. If you don't have both scrolls or one of your teammates is dead you won't be able to pass. Also it is strictly against the rules to open either scroll until you reach the tower. If you do then you will immediately be disqualified." 

Everyone nods, absorbing and filing away the information. No one questions her. This all makes sense to everyone. Though the thought of dying in there does frighten some. The feeling isn’t shown on the surface. Entering the forest will be the real test, having Naruto to recall what might be lying in wait inside of there somewhere.

"Any questions?" she asks.

"What are these pieces of paper for?” Asks a random non-important shinobi or kunoichi.

"It's a release form that states that if you die then you won't sue us," she explains with a slight smile.

"I don't think that a release form covers death,” the same individual says.

"Fill out your forms quickly. In exchange, you’ll be able to pick up your scroll in that booth,” points Anko in the direction of where it is, knowing this will be fun to watch them trying to progress through the treacherous domain of the forest.

The genin all obey albeit with some hesitation. Teams go in one by one into the tent. Naruto's team gets a Heaven scroll. Everyone then goes off to their gates as instructed. Naruto stares into the forest while he waits for the exam to start, confirming his plan of action with Haku. Haku will keep nearby, incase Orochimaru or a team that Naruto and his team can’t handle without difficulties gets too close. If it is Orochimaru, Haku himself won’t confront him directly. Instead he’ll send in shadow and water clones. His goal will be not to actually beat the Sannin, but to give Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura time to get away. If Haku’s 'teammates' are killed by Orochimaru then they’ll be easy to replace due to how they’re merely being advanced clones.

"Hajime!"

The gates spring open for the ninja to all rush into the forest, to begin the competition. Unluckily for Kiba and his team, the team of that they have taken out previously haven’t managed to get past Ibiki. They end up having to actually search for their opponents, this time, meaning that they aren’t amongst the first there. Naruto has seen the team that has come after them previously pass Ibiki's exam. True to form, they come after Team Seven once again.

_Haku, Orochimaru's somewhere close by… I can't be wasting energy and time fighting. Can you take care of him for me?'_ Naruto asks, feeling a little stressed out with the threat lurking nearby.

_Sure thing_ , replies Haku. Both keep their thoughts to each other.

Moving to intercept the Mist shinobi, he senses immediately that he’s alone, probably it’s due to having split off from his group to search for targets. The ninja doesn’t even have time to scream as he’s pierced from a thousand directions by shards of ice that instantly melt upon exiting his body, leaving no trace of their existence other than the holes in the body.

_Damn… He doesn't have his team's scroll,_ Haku thought to himself, rooting through the ninja's bags. 

Well, there’s nothing to do for it, then. There are so few scrolls in the forest that he’ll have to track down this one's team to liberate them of theirs. Swiftly, he strips the shinobi of all useful items, storing them in various scrolls before using a hunter nin jutsu to destroy the body without a trace, not even leaving ashes as might of happened if he set it on fire. The jutsu is simple, really. It speeds up decomposition so that the body is absorbed into the soil almost instantly. The bones turn to dust. Transforming into the Mist shinobi, Haku slips on the devices he’s stolen, instructing the one of the two Naruto clones to stay nearby Team Seven in case of emergency. Taking the other with him, he notices that the dead ninja has had traces of his teammates' chakra on him. So, tracking them down is easy enough for him. Haku kills them before they can react. He treats their bodies the same way he’s treated their teammate's body.

_A Heaven scroll… Just what I need.'_

Pocketing the scroll, he starts running back towards Naruto's team. His assignment is to help make sure that they get through with as little trouble as possible after all.

"Hey, guys!" Kiba calls out to his team. "I smell something!"

Shino pauses, leaning down to put his ear to the tree trunk, “It sounds like six people, about ten kilometers that way. Hinata?"

"Hai," she says, activating her Byakugan. "There're definitely six of them. Three of them are from Sand and the other three are from Mist."

"Let's get them!" Shouts Kiba, receiving a confirming bark from Akamaru.

Hinata disagrees though, “B-But Kiba, we can’t beat all six of them!"

"We'll wait for them to kill off each other, and then pick off whoever's left over! That'll delete competition later, and increase our chances of getting the right scroll,” suggests the Inuzuka, eager for a fight here.

"Kiba's right," says Shino quietly.

Hinata nods, following her teammates in the direction of the two fighting teams. They slow down as they approach, sneaking into some nearby bushes. Gaara is in the mood to kill.

"Hey, Gaara, calm down! Haven't you already killed someone today?" Kankurou asks quietly, sheepish of speaking up further due to his younger sibling’s tendencies. 

They’ve already run into another team. Although that one has also had an Earth scroll. So, it hasn’t been of any use to them. It has only served to annoy Gaara further. The whole business with not killing anyone has put him on edge. Luckily he’s been told by Naruto that killing during this exam as long as he doesn’t harm the blonde's friends is fine. It pleases him greatly that it won’t break their agreement. It also helps that the bloodlust is cut in half by the seal patch. Ignoring his brother, Gaara attacks the overly confident Mist shinobi. His two teammates don’t even have time to start getting scared before they also have been crushed within his sand coffin, blood and entrails sprays everywhere. Gaara has thought ahead, removing the scroll from their pockets before killing them. It’s a Heaven scroll, knowing that this is just what they need.

_I don't think that this is such a good idea,_ Kiba thought, deciding that this dude is a bit too powerful to take on even though he definitely has the scroll they need.

Gaara calms down almost instantly, not threatening his siblings like he originally has before. That means that Temari isn’t as distracted as she has been, keeping on alert for any foes that might try to attack her and her brothers, knowing with her fans and wind chakra that she can do a good deal of damage.

_What's that?_ she thought, hearing the leaves of a nearby bush rustle in a way that only a really big animal might of been responsible for. 

All non-humanoid life has been scared off by Gaara's bloodlust though. Thus, it means that they have people watching them from the shadows.

"Hey, there's someone over there,” Temari says, turning to face Team Eight's hiding position.

_FUCK!'_ thought Kiba.

Before they can run, Temari poofs behind them, using her wind to force them out into the open.

"Well, looks like we have some little puppies watching us,” says Kankurou, lips curving into a smirk. "What do you say that we put them out of their misery?"

Before he can begin to follow through on that threat, Gaara speaks up. He recognizes the three Konoha genin. They’re three of the people Naruto has told him not to harm least Shukaku be released in all of his fury on him. The promise of the raccoon dog being out I the open is one he can’t risk.

“Don’t. They’re pathetic and a waste of our time. Come, we need to head to the Tower that we have the one we require.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie thirty-one. I might of put this out earlier this week, but I haven’t had time until now to work further on this chappie. I’ll have another one out shortly along with more of this once chappies are finished being put through the revision process. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	32. Riptide

**_Alrighty, here’s the next chappie for, Chasms of Sixteen. I hope you all will enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 32: Riptide**

Temari and Kankurou both turn to stare incredulously at their brother. Team Eight follows suit. Why is he telling them to not kill the intruders? Naruto has told Gaara that he’s put a chakra sensor in each of the necklaces. So, that way it’llbe able to tell if the person it’s attached to ever dies or is knocked unconscious. It will also tell him when and who is nearby. If Gaara is anywhere in the general vicinity of one of Naruto's friends when she or he dies then he’ll likely be held accountable for it even if he doesn’t kill them by his own hands.

"What? Why?" Temari asks, surprised by him not wanting to go through with it.

Gaara has already begun to walk away, not giving a glance back to see if his siblings are following him or not, “There’s no point."

Before either of his siblings can argue, question him, or the three genin that he’s saved can realize what has happened, they are all hit by a wave of bloodlust and power…

_No way,_ Gaara thought, suddenly spinning to face the direction it has come from though right after the first chakra spike has another following soon, noticing this one is sly and poisonous rather than fiery and raging. _Naruto_! 

()()()()()

“Pathetic,” Kin says, picking up the scroll from the kunoichi she’s just knocked out. 

One of her teammates has been sliced into bloody bit by Zaku's sound waves. What she also knows is that another is now crumpling in a heap, causing a pool of his own vomit after Dosu has attacked his inner ear. They’ve actually been ambushed by the team from Kumo, making their failure to win all the more pathetic. They’ve gone down without much of a fight despite all the advantages they’ve had. Turning to looting the bodies, she notices that they had even brought money with them into the forest! She whistles as she counts it out, coming out to seeing they have about ten thousand yen on them each. Why the hell they haven’t just left it with their jounin sensei is beyond her. She makes sure that neither teammate has seen the money before pocketing it. The guy's teammates haven’t had nearly as much, only possessing pocket change in comparison to their teammates. It isn’t that much in the long run, but she’s always been very low on cash. They also have a large supply of food, weapons, and clothing stored in scrolls along with cooking utensils and other camping items. The Oto team haven’t had such items due to a low budget, knowing their stuff isn’t exactly cheap, either. A particularly nice katana has gold and silver inlay in the handle, seeing it’s as far as Kin can tell to be finely crafted. Their clothing is of a high quality, too, designed for optimum performance in the areas around Konoha. Due to how the terrain of Kumo is nothing like anywhere in the Fire Country, the clothing has obviously been custom made for this trip.

“Are these idiots carrying everything with them?" Kin wonders aloud as she finds a scroll on the dead girl, containing jewelry, dresses, fancy blouses and skirts, cosmetics of the highest quality, several silver mirrors, some very nice brushes combs, and the like. “Talk about rich even if you combined all the money I've ever had I still won’t be able to afford the cheapest of these dresses!"

"No wonder they lost. Only idiots bring shit like that to the chunin exams,” comments Dosu. 

Kin nods, but she’s still grinning. Jackpot! It’s a miracle that these buffoons have gotten past the first exam! Things are definitely looking up for her!

_Little one, you do know that Kurama probably already has this stuff in her palace,_ Yosei says, feeling a twinge of amusement by Kin's delight.

_Yeah, but all of her stuff's out of style other than the armor and isn't up to date! This stuff's the newest technology! There's even communication devices…._

Kin sorts through the scrolls a bit more. She pauses when she finds one that stands out. This one has belonged to the guy that Dosu has killed. She feels her curiosity perk up when she opensone of the seals for this strange circular device with wires coming out in one location, ending in what looks a headband with ovals on the end pops out. Curious, she put in over her head. The ovals fit perfectly onto her ears. She randomly pushes one of the buttons on the device, jumping when sound starts blasting into her ears.

"What the fuck?!" she exclaims, hitting the same button she’s pressed before, the sound suddenly stops. 

It seems to function like Dosu's arm thing, but it’s way smaller! She thought that the headband with ovals thing is similar to the radios used for short distance communication, but this feels so insane. To find such things here on Cloud ninja puzzles her.

“What is it?" Dosu asks, coming over to look over Kin's shoulder at the device.

"Listen!" she says, putting the headband over his ears and pushing the button. 

At the sound and appearance of it also intrigues him. Looking closer at the scroll, Kin notices that the section she’s taken it out of was marked for a few years previous.

“I’ve heard that Kumo has the most advanced technology, but I’ve never really believed it until now," admits Dosu, turning the sound producing device over in his hands, fiddling with the buttons. 

The Lightning Country's hidden village has actually been the first with electronics, due to their specialty with lightning and their understanding of its properties. After their technology has spread everyone has assumed that it hasn’t advanced that far. Kin nods. One of the main reasons why everyone has assumed that Kumo doesn’t have that much new is that there is only so much that most people thought that electronics can do. There’s no use to anyone outside of Oto for a compact, automatic sound producing device. She continues searching through the scroll, rolling to a more recent date.

( _Interesting,_ says Yosei.

‘ _What?'_ Asks Kin, wondering what she means by this.

_The technology's leaped significantly in the last twelve or so years. You remember what I told you about the upheavals?' Answers_ Yosei patiently.

_Yeah, these these scrolls don't have anything advanced marked for before a few years ago. This means that whoever's the next rebelling pair's probably already active,_ Kin replies thoughtfully.

Just as they finish looting their opponents bodies, all three feel two separate waves of energy wash over them. Dosu and Zaku only recognize one, noticing it’s that of their leader. But Kin and Yosei know both.

_Damn it! Ok, let’s try getting there before too much damage happens to him…_

()()()()()

Being taken by surprise as a hundred kilometer per hour wind slams into him, Naruto is blown away from his teammates.

_Fuck! How have I missed that_?!'

He’s known it’s coming, but never known as to what approximate time. He really haven’t had been taken off guard, but he has been. Now, Orochimaru is alone with Sasuke and Sakura. Halting his roll, Naruto looks up to see the same giant snake that has eaten him the last time he’s done this. Not bothering to stay and fight it, he shadow cloned. The clone formed a Rasengan before he charges the snake as Naruto runs back to his team. It really is too bad that he can’t use Rasengan against Orochimaru without having first been trained by Jiraiya or someone else, knowing who can use it. He already knows that Kakashi will likely refuse to teach him it while Jiraiya having been the first person to encourage Naruto's gains in power. For even Ero Sennin has backed off after he learns just how powerful Naruto can truly become.

_Hey, Naruto, is it really you we're talking to?_ Sasuke asks him, wary of pretenders just after what must have been an attack.

_Not in the flesh, no,_ Naruto replies, speeding up as he curses how Orochimaru has already found them!

_Great_ … _Then who are we talking to_? Sasuke wonders to himself.

The Naruto look alike approaches him after Sakura has. After Sasuke has confirmed her identity through the mental link helps them have each others back in this. It won’t be easy to go against someone far superior in power and skill than they currently are.

_Sakura, that's not Naruto. Don't let him know that you know,_ says Sasuke to her, knowing that she’s about to engage in conversation.

One thing to say about her is that her acting skills have greatly improved. She gives no outward sign of having heard Sasuke. Though she does remain on the alert, knowing they can be up against anyone in here. The thought of a Sanin here doesn’t cross her mind, not having that information.

“What's the password, dobe?" Asks the Uchiha, deciding to stall until their entire team can be nearby including Naruto because he still doesn’t know where the look alike's teammates are, needing to keep an eye out for them.

"How do I know that you two aren't fakes?" 'Naruto' instantly challenges.

"My password is ichigo," Sakura says, coming up with something off the top of her head. 

"Mine's raven," Sasuke has no clue why he gives that as the password, but it’s probably due to Sakura giving a description of her hair color, too.

_Interesting… They have separate passwords for each person. They likely decided on these ahead of time, basing them on hair colors in unimaginative, though. What might Naruto's be_?' Orochimaru in the disgust as Naruto thought.

"Ramen," says the imposter, knowing that’s the color of the noodles is close enough, knowing that the blonde seems to have an obsession with the food.

Without warning, Sasuke flings several kunai with explosive tags attached at the look alike. He dodges them all even the blasts. This confirms how Naruto is right about this guy's skill level. The blonde always seems to know stuff like this, not even a Yamanaka who has the possibility of being able to attempt to have a chance of seeing the future. Yet, he seems to know everything that will happen ahead of time!

"You want my Earth scroll, right?" Orochimaru, dropping his henge into Naruto to show a ninja from Grass asks. "Since you have the Heaven scroll…" 

Showing the scroll to them, he swallows it, his tongue extending to wrap around it first. This display fascinates Sasuke, wondering how that’s humanly possible. Sakura cringes in disgust, not liking to see this, glancing around though from time to time to try locating their missing teammate.

_That's so wrong, disgusting, and unnatural doesn't even begin to describe it,_ Sakura thought, still feeling goosebumps rise up. _What is up with this guy?_

"Now, let’s start to fight over who gets the other scrolls with our lives on the line. I hope you two don’t disappoint nor bore me…” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie thirty-two. I hope you all enjoyed what went down this time. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	33. Incisor

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. I apologize for the wait for this though. I’m trying to update this as regularly as I possibly can with how much people are having a pleasant time reading so far._ **

**_So, here’s some news even if people may or may not read my notes. I’m only updating and posting my works here. I’m not doing it on ffn and wattpad any longer due to reasons. Plus, on here, with ao3 I’m receiving feedback that I need and want to continue further on works._ **

**_Anyway, enough of me blathering on. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice comments._ **

**Chapter 33: Incisor**

Casting a genjutsu on them, he shows them their deaths including precisely how he will kill them. Sakura is frozen in fear, unable to even think. Sasuke is hardly any better off, able to think but not move. Orochimaru throws two kunai at the frozen genin. Sasuke prepares to stab himself in the leg, to drive away the feeling of paralyzing fear, but is interrupted when two shuriken deflects the kunai, changing their path.

“Hey, snake bastard!" Shouts out Naruto, standing on a nearby tree branch. 

Sending out a mental note to Haku where he is and what is going on, he warns him to stay away unless Sasuke and Sakura somehow manage to escape. Naruto feels that he will hopefully not reach the point where he’s unable to hold off Orochimaru for any length of time. If that happens, Haku will move to assist Sasuke and Sakura in running, the two clones trailing behind in case Naruto is defeated. If necessary, Haku is to pull the two genin into Kurama’s pocket dimension. Naruto will risk exposure to keep both of his comrades safe. If only Sakura escapes then Haku won’t pull her into Kurama’s dimension. Naruto won’t dare to risk exposure and failure to keep her safe. Haku understands, feeling the same way about Zabuza that Naruto does about Sasuke.

"Well, well, it looks like your little teammate has come to join us,” smirks Orochimaru, turning to face the blonde, meeting Naruto's eyes as he casts the same genjutsu he has earlier.

Nothing happens though when he does this. The jutsu appears to prove ineffective towards the jinchurriki. This intrigues the Sanin very much so, wondering what it is about this particular shinobi that seems to negate his move. .

“It looks like you defeated that giant snake, Naruto," notes the dark haired man, disguising his surprise with him being here that is. 

It’s probably just that he, being a jinchurriki runs into death threats way to often to be scared. There’s certainly no sign that his genjutsu has been met entirely with resistance. It causes him to wonder what else this one has come across thus far in his life.

_Sasuke… Sakura, I need you to run. He's way above your level. Get the hell out of here!_ Naruto mentally shouts to his teammates, remaining calm on the exterior to ensure that Orochimaru doesn’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.

_Like hell we're abandoning you, Naruto!_ Sasuke shouts back at him, being defiant of leaving him all alone against this foe. 

Why does he feel so strongly that Naruto can’t do this on his own? The blonde is more than able to take on over a hundred people at once and win after a major fight and then some. So, whycan’t he fight this one fight alone? Because he wants to. Naruto isn’t the type to do something stupid like that even if he can When he is. However, the type to face off against an unbeatable enemy alone, one which will certainly kill him, just to give Sasuke and Sakura time to escape is something he’s hesitant on agreeing. Naruto, who always knows their opponents' skill levels through some mysterious way, will know if this guy can kill them all or merely threaten them. Growling mentally, but he doesn’t argue with him. There’s no arguing with Sasuke when he’s like this. Sakura most likely will stick next to the raven with whatever decision he makes.

“That stupid thing is easy to kill,,” replies the blonde, sending in a group of ten shadow clones that he’s formed before showing himself to attack Orochimaru directly as well.

_Ah, shadow clones…. Kabuto’s research proves right like usual then,_ Orochimaru thought to himself, gauging the situation here carefully. _Impressive I suppose…_

What he doesn’t notice is that they all have explosives coating their bodies, underneath their clothes, courtesy of Naruto's Kage Koumoku no Jutsu. Not bothering to throw anything at them, he has all ten exploded nearby him. He doesn’t have time to fully dodge, getting some burns. There’s no way the blonde has that many explosives or enough time to coat the shadow clones. He’s done it anyway. Orochimaru's surface liquefies, turning brown as he collapses as the mud clone loses its form.

“Impressive," says the serpentine male, stepping out of the shadows after seeing the performance given . 

Rolling up his sleeve, he reveals the summoning tattoo, biting his thumb as he smears blood across the symbols, he yells, “Kuchiyose no jutsu!” 

While he slams his hand into the bark of the tree branch he’s standing on. The branch erupts as the snake he’s summoned enters that world, replacing the tree underneath Orochimaru's feet.

_Shit_! Naruto thought, as the snake lunges for Sakura. Pulling out about a quarter of a tail of Kurama’s chakra, he blocks the snake's attack, holding it in place before lifting up one now clawed hand to rake it across the reptile's face, tearing scales.

The snake rears back, hissing in pain.Naruto turns his attention to face his team. Nagorigan blazes fully, his irises blood red, while his pupils are slit like a cat's pupil, black lines radiate around the pupil.

_I told you guys to run!_ Naruto shouts at them through their mind link, noticing that this is getting out of control.

 

Sasuke hesitates upon seeing the nagorigan. He has distinctly felt the sudden change in Naruto's chakra signature from that of a human to that of a being one eighth demon and seven eighths human. Except hasn’t the last time Naruto has shown his true chakra signature have the faint traces of demonic power? From what he recalls when he’s revealed his demonic power has been just that? Trace amounts, enough to say to anyone with chakra sense that something isn’t quite right about him. Clearly that amount isn’t enough to raise any red flags.

_I already told you, Naruto. I'm not going to leave you alone,_ replies Sasuke, activating his own doujutsu for the sharingan to blaze as well in response. 

_Sasuke you idiot_! Screams out Naruto in fear, knowing what Orochimaru is capable of, not wanting time to repeat itself. 

Sasuke can sense that he’s purposefully left anyone other than the two of them out of the conversation. Sakura, who is in equal danger, Cann’t even hear their talking now. 

_Why do you think he's even here?! He's after your sharingan! His name's Orochimaru, the snake sannin. He'll stop at nothing! He will take over your mind and body so that he himself can possess the sharingan and its powers_ , quickly Naruto tells him this, knowing it’s of the essence to act before the moment of opportunity passes by.

Sasuke pauses, not responding. The world outside their conversation is almost frozen as he ponders for a half second, minutes in the sped up world of the mental links. He’s heard rumors of such jutsu that allow the user to take control of the body of another either as a puppet or to possess. He’s also heard of Orochimaru. But how does Naruto know the name? How can he ever realize what his intentions are or who he’s under his disguise?

_It doesn't matter how I know this for now! I'll explain it later! But, Sasuke, please… I beg of you, get the hell out of here!_ Pleads Naruto. 

He knows that Orochimaru likely won’t actually kill the Uchiha, instead marking him. But he knows fully well how the curse seal works. What he also knows is that to divert Sasuke from his quest for power might not be a possibility if the raven is branded. He sure as hell isn’t willing to risk losing Sasuke to him of all people yet again. Sasuke stares at Naruto. What has caused this desperation? If Orochimaru is indeed after his sharingan then the likeliness that he’ll kill Sasuke is slim to none. Sasuke questions its source, but he doesn’t doubt the blonde's judgment as to who they are facing off against. Memories rise up unbidden to his mind. Naruto helping him train to reach the top of the tree. Naruto blocking Haku's needles, to protect Sasuke. Naruto going into a rage over Sasuke's death. Naruto nearly sacrificing his life to bring him back. That’s only during that one section of the Wave mission. There has been a few times before, and many times since, when Naruto has gone to insane lengths to protect Sasuke or when he shows favoritism to Sasuke over Sakura despite his supposed infatuation with the kunoichi. An infatuation which has vanished without a trace the day Naruto was put on his team. It’s almost as if it’s merely a paper mask falling, soundlessly and forgotten, to the floor.

_Naruto… Why go so far for me_? 

Sasuke doesn’t receive his answer, as time catches up to them. The serpent strikes again, causing Naruto to spin around to leap at it. His claws, fists, and feet are all fighting it back, until Naruto is able to shadow clone himself to place explosive notes along the snake's sides. The clones disappear as soon as each one places its own note. Orochimaru leaps from the snake's back as the notes go off one by one, ripping the giant reptile to shreds.

_This kid… No way,_ Orochimaru thought, seeing and sensing Naruto's use of Kurama’s chakra. “So, the Yondaime hasn’t actually killed the fox? Interesting…’ 

Speeding through hand signs, he causes a thousand and more snakes to erupt from the branch underneath Sasuke and Naruto, wrapping around the two genin. Sasuke is stuck fast though. On the other hand, Naruto is still managing to struggle. Snarling, Naruto increases the amount of her power that he’s using to three fourths of a tail, nearing his limit as he can feel it as the chakra sears his chakra coils. Blood leaks out of the corner of his mouth from the aggravated internal wounds that the demonic energy causes coming so close to his chakra coil system. Sasuke stares in a mix of emotion behind his walls, being unconscious the last time Naruto has pulled out any significant amount of Kurama’s chakra. He hasn’t been aware that Naruto has so much power, being obviously doing him damage even though as a bloodline it really isn’t suppose to be. The only case Sasuke knows of bloodlines harming their user is with the Mangekyou Sharingan where extensive and frequent use can cause blindness. But kekkei genkai isn’t suppose to be able to cause internal damage so quickly. A wave of demonic aura washes over the forest as Naruto surrounds himself with Kitsunebi, burning the snakes to a crisp.

Orochimaru's eyes narrows. The brat isn’t able to have been able to pull out so much power let alone have enough control of the power along with contact with the fox to use Kitsunebi. He flares his own chakra in response, summoning a more powerful snake than he has previously. This one is heavily poisonous, figuring this one will be able to get rid of the brat once and for all.

_Everyone!_ Shouts out Naruto in warning over the mind link to the entire Rookie Nine. _No matter how curious you are, stay the hell away from that power. Kiba, Hinata, and Shino, I need you guys to do something for me._

_What, Naruto-kun_? Hinata repliesinstantly.

_I need you guys to go to the tower now even if you don't have the scroll. Find Anko if you can. If you can't any jounin or preferably ANBU and a couple of chunin, will do as well. Tell them what you sensed and that Orochimaru's here! Also, tell them exactly where he is,_ hurriedly Naruto tells all of this to her and her teammates.

Hinata nods, knowing what Orochimaru looks like due to her father requiring her to search through bingo books, figuring she can always claim she saw him, _Hai_.

Knowing that help will get there eventually at the least, Naruto turns his attention back to the fight to see the snake lunging. He leaps out of the way towards Sasuke, killing the snakes holding the Uchiha in place, allowing Sasuke to get out of the way of the battle. The Uchiha lands on a branch nearby, making sure he doesn’t land close to Sakura. The sannin will likely go after him again, not wanting to have to be slowed down by worrying about the kunoichi. Orochimaru summons several more snakes including a million small poisonous ones. Naruto fights them off, using every weapon he can. It’s taking a toll on him though as he’s been gradually sliding up the amount of demonic chakra he’s using. Knowing that Orochimaru is still toying with him to see how far he can go, he notices that his chakra pathways are back to how they’ve been after the Wave mission, Kurama’s energy still only can flow because it can float freely, not being up to this fight yet. A single snake slips under his guard, sinking its fangs into his leg. Naruto snarls, ripping the snake out before surrounding himself with Kitsunebi, burning all the nearby snakes. He suddenly is hit by a wave of nausea, his muscles seizing up as he prepares to jump towards Orochimaru.

_What_? he thought, his mind feeling fuzzy as his muscles start spasming.

_Shit, kit. That damn snake has powerful neurotoxins in its venom! It won't kill you, unlike what will happen to most creatures, but it'll slow you down until I can burn it out._

_Naruto doesn’t even have time to curse, physically or mentally, as Orochimaru's tongue wraps around his midsection, lifting him up in the air._

_FUCK! Not again_! Naruto thought frantically, struggling and trying to flare Kurama’s chakra if he can as Orochimaru lifts up his shirt to view the seal. 

Pain sears all throughout his body as his nonresponsive muscles protest the attempt to use his already burnt out chakra coils to transmit more poison. Orochimaru slams a glowing hand around the modified seal, effectively blocking Kurama’s yoki. Luckily, due to the design of the new seal, it stores yoki elsewhere in his body in case of a failure of the main seal. So, his healing abilities aren’t cut off. He’ll probably need antitoxin and medical attention now though since he can only heal himself enough to keep himself barely alive in face of his numerous wounds from overuse of chakra along with the venom. Naruto grabs on to a branch after Orochimaru throws him, barely keeping conscious. He can’t let Orochimaru win. He can’t afford to let him have Sasuke!

_Get out,_ Naruto says to his teammates, blackness clouding the edges of his vision as his eyes blur while his muscles barely work. 

He needs to stay conscious. Sasuke isn’t even able to say no once again. Snakes erupt out from all around him, binding him in place.

“Amazing that your little friend over there has been able to drag out so much of her power without killing himself even more so that he's still alive let alone conscious,” comments orochimaru , smirking as he watches Sasuke continue to struggle while the hatred evident on Naruto's face intensifies.

_Her power? What's he talking about_? Sasuke wonders, glaring daggers at the enemy. 

_HELP_! Naruto screams out to everyone with a necklace, sending out visuals of what’s happening, scents and sounds for those who can track using them. 

Haku races towards them, everyone else too far away to help. 

“This little fox has been very troublesome, but now there's nothing to stand in my way,” Orochimaru says, forming the hand seals that will place the curse mark upon Sasuke that will likely seal his fate.

His neck stretches, flying towards Sasuek with fangs extending as Naruto yells out loud, “No!” 

Sasuke, Sakura, and Orochimaru's eyes widen as Naruto blasts an edge of the seal blocking Kurama’s yoki off. Using the small amount he’s able to get to force his muscles to work, propelling him towards Sasuke. At the same time, the temperature drops without warning. Ice forms in the trees as needles of frozen water rush towards Orochimaru. Unfortunately, he’s too close even though it won’t get there in time. It seems almost as if time slows down to a snail's crawl, as Naruto shoves Sasuke out of the path of Orochimaru's jutsu, sending him flying out of the tree as he crashes to the forest floor below. When this occurs, Orochimaru's jutsu keeps going due to being too advanced to stop. His fangs sink into the junction of Naruto's shoulder and neck rather than Sasuke’s. 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie thirty-three. Thank you all for reading. Of course I appreciate the kudos, subscriptions, and comments given for this along with the rest of my works. I hope you all enjoyed. Hehes_ **

**_The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	34. Flicker

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Thank you all for being patient with me about updates. I really do appreciate it along with the further support given to my works. If anyone ever has a story request please don’t hesitate to let me know. I’m always willing to try out new stories with yaoi and yuri involved considering that’s what I write mostly. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, enough of me blathering on. I’m sure y’all want to get on with reading what happens this time. I hope you all enjoy. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice comments._ **

**Chapter 34: Flicker**

_Shortly After the 2nd Exam_

“There! A perfect Konoha symbol,” says Anko, grinning as she throws the last toothpick into the bark of the tree. “I guess I need to be going to the tower now. The faster of them will be finishing soon."

Before she can do anything, a chunin poofs in front of her, “Anko-sama! Trouble!” 

"What is it?" she asks.

"Bodies… Three of them! In the graveyard,” answers the shinobi hastily. 

“And…?” she says, wondering if he expects there to be bodies in a graveyard is normal. 

“Oh… Well, they're not a part of the graveyard," he says, bringing the jounin to attention instantly.

Anko blinks. "Oh… Oh, shit!"

Rushing off to the graveyard, she leaves the chunin behind. When she gets there, her eyes narrow as she views the three faceless, dead bodies.

“Fuck," she hisses under her breath, rubbing the side of her neck where the curse seal is. 

It’s starting to begin to tingle. Thus, this being a sure sign that her old sensei is probably nearby. This jutsu is all too familiar to her. Frowning in worry, she hopes that there hasn’t been too much carnage. 

_I can't believe he's here… What does he want?_

_“Tell the ANBU that Orochimaru might be here and that I went into the forest after him,” says Anko to one of the chunin, rushing off into the training zone._

()()()()()

"What the hell?” Kiba shouts at suddenly, hearing Naruto's request while Temari and Kankurou turn to stare at him as if he’s begun talking to himself.

“That power, the fire like one, belongs to your friend Naruto, correct?" Asks Gaara, turning his gaze on Kiba and his team. “The other belongs to the Sanin I presume."

"H-hai," stamemrs out Hinata in confirmation. "N-Naruto-kun asked us to tell them ANBU what was going on. He set up a communication system, through chakra activated necklaces so we can talk in our minds. Really, I'm telling the truth!"

Kankurou frowns, not sure if he can trust her, “I don't believe her. She's probably just trying to talk us into letting them go!"

"No," says Gaara, once again halting his siblings as his gaze is fixating firmly on Hinata. “Naruto gave me the same necklace after I agreed to help him with something. I heard his message too."

_Don't doubt me,_ he says over the mind link to Team Eight alone, knowing that there’s no way Naruto will wish his hand revealed so soon, but there’s no other alternative.

Kiba jerks when he hears Gaara speak within his mind. Hinata jumps a little while even Shino tenses up. They will never have suspected the two of being in league with each other. That means thatthere might be some ulterior motive to the blonde's gifts other than everyone of the Rookie Nine passing.

“What?” Asks Temari, spinning around to stare, shocked, at her little brother at coming to know the fact that he’s teamed up with the enemy. 

Kankurou just sits there, his mouth open. He is more shocked than anyone. Temari isn’t too surprised because she herself isn’t all too loyal to Suna, but it has never come across Kankurou's mind to betray his village. So, he’s less aware of the desire in others, not being of the paranoid type either.

"I tire of repeating myself…. Let them go," says Gaara, turning to glare at his siblings. "I'll explain later.” 

“Wait, Hinata, no way are we going to the tower without both scrolls!" Kiba wants to know, rounding on his teammate. 

"But, Kiba! Naruto can die! Don't you know who Orochimaru is?" Hinata shouts back, her lack of confidence evaporating in the face of her crush's peril because she can’t let Kiba's stubbornness get him killed.

"Which scroll do you need?” Gaara intercepts, his voice low and angry. 

These idiots are wasting time in his opinion. He can’t go to the ANBU himself without looking suspicious to the Konoha shinobi. Well, he can though it’ll go screaming at Suna and Oto that he isn’t on their side anymore. 

Gaara smirks, "We've got extras."

"But! Gaara!" Kankurou tries to object spinning to face the redhead while Temari remains silent, knowing better than to anger her little brother any further.

"The Heaven scroll," growls out Kiba.

"Here." Gaara throws the scroll at Hinata who catches it in surprise of the gift he has given her. “If Naruto dies because of your delays then I won’t hesitate to slaughter you in any way I please.” 

“Gaara, you can't give away our scroll!" Kankurou still tries to protest once again.

"There's other scrolls. Let's go. You best stop wasting my time," Gaara says to his brother, simultaneously daring his sister to challenge him with his eyes, but she still remains silent.

Kankurou realizes the peril he’s in as Gaara's sand starts to bristle, sliding over itself, “H-hai.” 

"Come on,” says the heiress to her teammates, dragging Kiba who’s been staring at the Suna trio, to his feet. "We'll ask Naruto what's going on later! For now we need to get to the tower!"

He snaps back to attention, leaping to his feet. Team Eight shoots through the forest, driven by Hinata's newfound determination as much as anything. She speeds up when she feels the waves of fiery energy cease, knowing that it means that something bad has happened to Naruto. Both her teammates are left behind as she propels more chakra out of her legs than she might of been, making her chakra coils scream as she triples her speed. Slamming through the tower door by using her chakra as a shield to protect herself from harm, she uses the tree walking technique to glue herself to the floor to bring her to a swift halt. Yanking both scrolls open, she lays them in a crossing pattern on the floor, the symbol for person overlapping as smoke pours out.

"Kurenai-sensei! Trouble!" she pants out, as her teacher appears in the smoke.

"Where's your teammates?" Kurenai asks, seeing only Hinata.

"Catching up!" she replies, not wasting any time with idle chitchat. "That isn't the problem, though! Orochimaru's in the forest. I know where he is!"

Kurenai's eyes widen at hearing this. All of the jounin has been given a warning that Orochimaru is more than likely somewhere in the forest. He’s being hunted by ANBU. She activates the short distance communication device she carries everywhere with her.

"Hokage-sama," she says, activating the radio. "My student saw where Orochimaru is.” 

Turning to her student again, she sees Kiba and Shino show up shortly after, “The ANBU will be here shortly.” 

“Kurenai-sensei!” Kiba exclaims.

"I guess you two can also confirm Hinata's story?" Asks the illusionist.

Shino and Kiba both nod, “Akamaru and I both smelt him. He smells like somewhere between a snake, a human, and a dead body.” 

"His chakra signature's so powerful that only an S-class criminal or higher can be producing it. His power is corrupt, making my insects on edge. Most shinobi, even powerful ones, can't do that. The only one I've heard of having that effect on an Aburame is Orochimaru," explains Shino calmly.

"Good. More evidence. I've already called in the ANBU," assures Kurenai.

"When are they going to get here, then?" Kiba wants to know, looking at Kurenai for answers.

"Now."

()()()()()

“Gaara, what are we going to do now?" Temari asks, bringing up the subject timidly.

He doesn’t reply. Instead he just continues walking in a seemingly random direction. He’s actually caught a sense of the presence of another team though. His teammates hurry up to follow. Temari’s wind specialty allow her to 'hear' the currents that carry through the breezes. This includes the information that just shortly ahead of them is yet another team to loot for their scrolls. She races ahead, wanting to get this over with. Neither brother attempts to put a stop to her.

"What the hell?" one of the genin exclaims as she suddenly rushes towards them in a great blast of wind as it seems that they are from Iwa.

She doesn’t pause, jumping off her fan onto the forest floor. Landing in a crouch, she catches her fan in one hand as it falls out of the sky. She spins up out of her crouch, reopening the fan to send out cutting waves of air. As she does so. The only remaining genin after that onslaught is quickly dealt with as Temari sends him slamming into a tree with yet another gust of wind. She’s calmer as she loots their bodies, her brothers arriving just as she finds the Heaven scroll in the pouch of the genin who has spoken up when she arrived on the scene.

"Let's go," Gaara says, seeing that his sister has the correct scroll, but instead of waiting for a response he turns to begin to head back to the tower.

"Gaara, please wait a second," Temari calls out, using a gentle rather than commanding tone of voice. 

He turns to glare at her as she continues, guessing he can appease her, “We’ve got the replacement scroll. Now, we have some time to waste. We won't be able to talk much once we're back with Baki. Can you possibly explain to us why you felt like betraying Suna?"

"I feel no desire to help those who have oppressed me, and Uzumaki not only offered me acceptance and protection from enemies, but he temporarily patched up my seal so that Shukaku's bloodlust does not affect me as much. He has promised to fully replace the seal after the chunin exams are over if I uphold my part of the bargain," Gaara explains monotonously, after a moment's hesitation.

Both siblings are caught off guard at first, but Temari luckily gets over it first as she replies to her brother in the same gentle tone she uses before, sending a silencing glare to Kankurou as she does so, “That’s good. You deserve a chance at peace."

Both brothers are once again shocked at her words. Though Gaara doesn’t show it. Kankurou decides to keep his mouth shut this time. He’s going to keep on being surprised no matter what he says it seems. Plus, talking is only getting him in more trouble lately.

“Thank you. Now, let’s head to the Tower. We may have time to waste, but I don’t like to waste time.” 

()()()()()

Haku leaps out of the tree that he’s been hiding in when he sees Naruto being given the brand with the curse seal. His water and shadow clones distracted Orochimaru, pelting him with needles of ice. His senses extending, he notices the ANBU closing in. They probably can’t locate him over Orochimaru's overpowering chakra signature. So, he guesses that he’s hopefully safe for the time being. Landing next to Naruto, Sasuke has already been given back his range of movement as he rushes over while Sakura is making her way through the battle zone.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Snaps Sasuke at Haku when he drops his henge into a Mist genin.

"I'll explain everything later,” promises Haku softly, sending his chakra out to check what’s going on with Naruto. “For now, Naruto-kun needs my help and your cooperation."

Sasuke can’t bother to argue as his focus is taken up by Naruto's predicament, _Dobe, you baka! You shouldn't have protected me!_

A burning sensation builds up behind his eyes as he fights back tears. Uchiha don't cry. Ninja don't cry. Itachi has never, ever cried. Sasuke can’t allow himself to cry and show weakness around others now. His attention is broken out of his angered musings as Haku gasps, his search of Naruto's internal chakra and blood network turning up as not good.

“What?” Asks Sasuke, dreading the answer that he might receive.

"Orochimaru put another seal on him, blocking any ability of his to fight the curse seal and heal himself," explains Hakumonotonously, his extensive training with Zabuza kicking in as his rising panic is buried under a mask of ice.

"I saw him use that with my sharingan," confirms Sasuke, recalling what he’s seen Orochimaru do and how it has been done, knowing If only he knows more about seals, he might be able to reverse the one on Naruto. “He called it the Five Pronged Seal."

"I know little about seals, but I do know that that's a weak, easy to remove one. It seems as if Naruto's already begun to remove it," says Haku, maintaining perfect calm as he examines the seal directly with his chakra.

Lifting up Naruto's shirt and jacket, Sasuke stares at the seals that reveal themselves. He can recognize, on the basis of Orochimaru's hand placement the marks that are likely the Five Pronged Seal, but his sharingan tells him that there is at the least one more. No, he can’t be thinking about that. Helping Naruto comes first. Questions can wait their turn until Naruto wakes up again.

Haku mutters quietly to himself as he recalls some half-forgotten jutsu, seen once or twice in a scroll, forming full hand seals. That in and of itself is a sign of how little he knows what he’s doing. Anything he’s even mildly proficient in he can easily pull off with only one hand. His hand begins to glow as he slams it into the Five Pronged Seal on Naruto's stomach. He hasn’t known the jutsu for removing the seal so he has gone with a jutsu designed to pull on seals that are very weak or already worn away, finishing breaking them. It’s a good, all around jutsu, that works even on things such as old locks and such. Naruto's body jerks as the added assistance allows Kurama’s chakra to break free, flooding Naruto's body. Haku leaps back as the heat is too much for his snow accustomed body, but Sasuke grits his teeth to hold his ground, shifting closer to Naruto. The demonic energy begins to fight with Orochimaru's invading curse seal, trying to prevent it from gripping Naruto's body, heart, and mind. As a result, the blonde's body begins to jerk violently, thrashing about. Sasuke grabs him to hug him close to his chest as it looks as if he’s about to fall off. Ignoring the burns beginning to form on his bare arms, he cradles Naruto’s body so as to do the minimal amount of damage.

"Give me both of your necklaces!" Haku shouts at Sasuke, feeling a single jounin draw close enough to be worrisome. 

Sasuke hesitates though, “If those are found, Naruto will be in extreme trouble. The medics will insist on checking both you and Sakura! Trust me, they will find those.” 

Sasuke nods slowly, removing his and Naruto's communication necklaces before tossing them to Haku. The brown haired male turns to Sakura, pausing much closer to the tree when Naruto's body is flooding with Kurama’s power. 

“Yours too," he says in a calmer and less demanding tone of voice, knowing she probably is too scared to reply well to a more commanding tone, receiving a nod as she swiftly, yanks her necklace off to toss it to Haku. 

“We’ll see each other again,” smiles Haku before vanishing without a trace left to mark he’s even been there aside from the melting ice. 

”Fuck!” Anko shouts, looking around, stretching her senses for Orochimaru's signature to find it’s not there. "Orochimaru's run off! Look for him! I need two of you to stick with the genin team here in case he returns.” 

"Anko, what about the test?" One of them asks, indicating the genin with a tilt of his head. "If we bring the downed one in for medical attention, that'll automatically disqualify them if they don't already have both scrolls, probably even if they do. We can’t exactly follow them around without being declared as interfering with the test. Even this much is stretching it.” 

Before Anko can reply, Sasuke's shouts his answer, “I don't care! Naruto needs medical attention!"

"Well, it can't be against any rules to bring them to the tower; especially under these circumstances. If they don't have the scrolls, too bad for them," says Anko, turning to go help look for Orochimaru while the two ANBU nod in confirmation of her orders given to them, knowing they’ll fulfill them without fault.

“Give him to me. That way we'll be able to travel faster," the one with the bird mask says, reaching down to take Naruto from Sasuke's arms.

"No!" Glares Sasuke icily, gripping Naruto tighter before he calms down slightly before continuing. “I’ll carry him."

The ANBU's eyes go to the Uchiha’s arms. He sees there are burn marks there. He smells the scent of burnt flesh when he enters the clearing, but has assumed it’s either from the Uchiha's fire jutsu actually hitting Orochimaru or from Kurama’s jinchurriki own actions causing some of his flesh to burn. He's also come to sense the demonic chakra radiating from Naruto as he fights the poison within him including the invading chakra. Sasuke's arms are beat red all over, in many places beginning to blacken as tailed beast energy leaks off of Naruto to burn anything it comes into contact with. Now that Sasuke is hugging the blonde against his chest, his shirt, is damp with blood. Sweat, is beginning to smolder, drying out swiftly.

"Your arms are already badly burnt from holding him. I have protective gear on my arms. If the medics are busy healing you, they can't be healing your teammate," the ANBU replies, looking Sasuke in the eyes. 

The sharingan is still going, despite Sasuke's exhaustion including mental and emotional stress. He probably isn’t keeping it up on purpose. This means that he subconsciously still thinks that there is somehow a threat to be fought. Maybe there is, but the sharingan, despite its many powers is no match for the threat that now faces its wielder. Sasuke doesn’t continue arguing, shaking his head as he hugs Naruto tighter. Sakura looks on, feeling lost and useless. If only she can fight… If only she can cast genjutsu, like Kakashi said she has the potential to do, she might of helped Naruto. If only she can heal, like she knows that she has the potential to. She can ease his and Sasuke's suffering even if only a bit, but she can’t. She can’t even use jutsus higher than a low genin level let alone advanced enough to make a difference in the fight or to make a difference now. She realizes for the first time exactly how completely and utterly useless she is in the face of true danger. She’s known for a while now that she might not be the most useful person, or that she might of acted different. She’s never, ever known how much of a burden she has been though until now. Inwardly, she swears to become better from this admission, knowing she’ll do her best to grow into the person she can be to assist her teammates to the best of her capability to learn how to do more with the right teacher to bring out her full potential to flourish.

“Sasuke. I know that you don't want to let a stranger carry Naruto. But you’re injured, too. You’ll take up the attention of medic nins to slow us down getting back to the tower. Please, Sasuke, for Naruto… Please,” she says in a soft and soothing tone, putting her hands on his shoulders. 

Maybe all hope isn’t lost. Perhaps she can be useful. As she watches Sasuke's shoulders slump in defeat, as the ANBU picks up Naruto, as she stands to follow them in a wild run through the trees, she decides that something. No longer will she chase Sasuke. No longer will she be the giggling, useless, obsessed fangirl. She has a new dream, a new goal, a new ambition even. She’s going to be useful to her teammates, to the the one she still secretly loved, but now never expects to be loved by, knowing she’ll give the same support to the one she’s scorned and risked it all to save them while showing himself to be more than anyone has ever thought possible. She doesn’t want to be the add on, the extra in someone else's movie, not wanting to be the cannon fodder or the one that’s always getting in the way. She no longer thought of being a damsel in distress as romantic. She has been. It’s not as good as the fairy tales say. Her knight in shining armor, her prince has never come. She’s going to change things, going to become independent to slay her own dragons and help her teammates while she’s at it. Determination flows through her at knowing she’ll going to become what she’s signed up for, being a kunoichi to start acting like it even if it costs her everything. It’s worth it, to be the one they need to be the knight in shining armor, even if only once. 

()()()()

Gaara stands up, sensing the signatures of Naruto and his team approaching along with two ANBU. It doesn’t take someone with Shikamaru's brains to figure out what has happened. Team Seven has given up on the exam, choosing Naruto's safety over their success. Pity, really. He knows that it has been a major point of Naruto's plans to end up in the final round. Though he doesn’t know exactly why. A main point is the training excuse so that he can seek out a good teacher in the month they’re always allotted. Is all that he’s gathered has him also suspecting some other reason though he doesn’t know what.

_I wonder… If his team already has the scroll, and Naruto is declared 'fit to battle', if they’ll be allowed to pass? Or even then if Naruto isn’t then they might simply say it's due to Orochimaru to let his teammates pass,_ Gaara muses to himself idly.

He remembers the blonde saying they have a Heaven scroll when he’s asked before the exams. He has two Earth scrolls. It can’t hurt to give the extra to their team. Deciding this, Gaara stands to begin heading for the door, giving off such bad vibes that neither teammate dares to ask him where he’s going. He stops before he gets too close to the ANBU, waiting for them to deposit Naruto with the medics for him to tell Sasuke he can’t be in the room with his teammate. The chakra signatures of the ANBU fade shortly afterwards, as they move to guard the entire tower. He meanders casually towards the two standing genin of Team Seven.

"What do you want?" Snaps out Sasukewhen Gaara gets too close. 

His voice is thickening with pain, but whether physical or emotional is beyond Gaara. Probably it’s both. The raven haired male’s arms are badly burnt, noticing he has several wounds. His teammate has just practically been sacrificing himself for him.

"Naruto is a… friend of mine," Gaara says, searching for the right word, finding it strange , how this mission and his treachery of Suna has changed him due to how he never would haveeven given consideration on calling someone 'friend' before. 

"Doesn't surprise me… the dobe's been keeping so many secrets lately…" he mutters, staring at his feet while his body posture shows that he’s at the end of his willpower.

"I know that you have a Heaven scroll and that you don’t seem to have manage to get an Earth scroll by the time you were attacked," Gaara says, not one to dwell on emotional issues due to how he can’t spend too long here without looking incredibly suspicious, pushing it as it is. 

Both genin stare at him, suddenly on guard, “So? Naruto's down for the count. It doesn't matter which scrolls we have….” 

Gaara looks at him impassively, inwardly wondering at his emotions. He’s so upset… It Is nothing that Gaara comprehends, caring so much about someone to get so worked up about them being in danger. It’s something that the redhead can’t get a hang of, wondering what it must feel like.

"Because of who attacked you, it's unlikely they'll disqualify the two of you for having your teammate be knocked out," Gaara says, brushing off how Sasuke reacts to him. “Also, if what I'm sensing is correct then Naruto's chakra's so chaotic that it's likely lashing out at anyone who comes near, potentially harming or killing them; especially if he senses killer intent. That counts as being able to fight."

He pauses, waiting for either genin to respond. Neither does so he continues on, holding out the extra to them. Both Sakura and Sasuke eye it warily, unsure of what Gaara’s intentions truly are about all of this.

“I have an extra Earth scroll. It can’t harm you to have it. This might be able to help both you and Naruto,” explains Gaara, still holding out the scroll to them. 

Sasuke’s eyes flicker in between the scroll and Gaara's face, wondering if he can trust the Suna shinobi. Remembering the first time Naruto and Gaara has met when they’ve spoken in such a strange language, he recalls that their body posture or at the least Gaara's, has been off. Tone. Body posture, had been the speed of speaking, and reactions doesn’t line up as they should be. Remembering all the strange things about Naruto, and how he’s had a friendship with a missing nin who happens to be their enemy that none of them knows about, how that same missing nin has shown up just now to defend them… Sasuke grabs the scroll, nodding at Gaara as he whispers a thank you towards him. Gaara hears it though before he turns to walk away, his mind more confused than before, finding it still rather strange, how this mission is affecting him. He hasn’t felt this way in six years. 

_Perhaps Naruto has that effect on people he comes across…..making supposedly enemies his friends and all. Well, it’s a mystery alright, but one I probably can figure out if Shukaku isn’t going to be a bitch about helping me out._

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie thirty-four. Damn, this one turns out longer than I thought it might, but that happens when I keep revising to not put a decent enough stopping point. I think y’all will like some chappies that are longer from time to time. Hehes_ **

**_I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	35. Surge

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Hmm, well, it seems like y’all are enjoying it so far. I’m so glad that switching to only ao3 is working out so splendidly. It really helps being in a place where I receive feedback I need and want to feel up to it with continuing stuff here._ **

**_Anyway, enough of me blathering on for now. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice comments._ **

**Chapter 35: Surge**

"We have both scrolls," says Sasuke, staring blankly at the exam proctor, Anko, who’s come by after she gives up on Orochimaru to question them about what has happened though she’s started with their status in the exams first.

Anko nods slightly, “Hokage-sama has said that, due to extenuating circumstances, your team will be allowed to proceed if at the end of the second exam the medic nins declare that Naruto is fit to fight. Though if he's declared fit and loses then your entire team will be held back. Sorry, brat, but if he doesn’t then everyone will be throwing a hissy fit about how he plays favorites."

Sasuke nods, looking forlorn again. Naruto will have to fight within a few days of having his chakra coils almost destroyed along with being marked with Orochimaru's curse seal. He’ll have to win. It’s not worth it. 

“Will it be an option to specifically give up your place in the finals to someone even before it being decided who fights who?" Sakura asks, knowing what’s on Sasuke's mind as she’s thinking the same thing herself due to how they both know how The chunin exams aren’t worth Naruto's health and life.

Anko blinks, “That has never been done before, but, then again, someone Orochimaru's level has never attacked a group of genin during the second exams.

"I'll have to ask Hokage-sama. Now, do you both mind telling me what happened?” 

Sasuke’s eyes lost the calculating almost living look they’ve have, shutting down as he closes in on himself as he answers coldly, “We started the exam like everyone else. We were going through the forest, looking for other teams, when a gale force wind slammed into us. We all got split up. I met up with Sakura first. We exchanged previously agreed upon passwords. Then someone who looked like Naruto walked up. It wasn’t though. He didn’t know the password. It was Orochimaru in disguise. I attacked him when he got the password wrong, but he dodged. He cast what must have been a genjutsu on us. It made us see our deaths. We were frozen with fear and couldn't move. He threw two kunai at us. Naruto showed up and blocked the kunai with shuriken. Orochimaru cast the same genjutsu on him, from what I could tell based on his chakra patterns, but Naruto didn't even blink.” 

Anko does blink however as she recognizes the jutsu. It’s designed to mimic the Tsukiyomi though it does a poor job of that. All it does is show the target being killed in some horrible way. How is Naruto unaffected? He’s a genin is what Anko thought It has merely been jinchurriki resilience to death threats, if she hasn’t been told of Naruto's apparent skill level. If the blonde hasn’t held out so long against Orochimaru or used so much of demonic chakra…

Sasuke continues, not noticing Anko's surprise, but if he does notice it then he doesn’t care, “He attacked Orochimaru, and they began to fight. Naruto used things like shadow clones covered with explosive notes at first, but then Orochimaru summoned a giant snake. Naruto started using that weird power of his, and he beat the snake. Naruto started yelling at me and Sakura to run. Orochimaru used an area of affect jutsu to bind me and Naruto with snakes. Though Naruto burnt them to a crisp. Orochimaru summoned another giant snake, this oneseemed to be poisonous as he summoned a bunch of small poisonous snakes. I don't know how, but he’s bitten! He stopped fighting! He… He just collapsed. Then Orochimaru started the curse seal jutsu. Naruto started radiating power and shoved me out of the way.” 

"Calm down!" Anko admonishes, seeing Sasuke's rising panic, being a bit worrying how worked up Sasuke is at the memory of Naruto's near death. “I’ve got it from here. Was there any hint of his plans?"

Sasuke begins shaking his head lightly and hesitantly at first, but then violently, “No.” 

"Sasuke, calm down. It's not going to help Naruto if you panic or get depressed," pipes up Sakura, her voice soothing in calmness due to how she’s needing to be the strong one now, guessing it’s strange, being the one that her team needs while Naruto is hanging on the brink of life and death. 

Sasuke is sinking into depression. She has to be the only one that hasn’t been cut down by Orochimaru's attack. Sasuke stills, knowing Sakura is right. But he can’t help his thoughts, his rising self hatred. It’s his fault. It always seems to be from his viewpoint. Now, because of his faults, he’s about to lose the most precious person to him since the Uchiha Massacre. Shaking his head, he knows that he can’t think such thoughts that will only drag him further under the quicksand. He can’t think of the worst thing that can happen, needing to believe that Naruto will make it through this to wake up to laugh his annoying little laugh, longing for how he is the way being his usual weird self. He has to cling onto the hope that everything will be alright again…

While they are thinking, Anko walks away, knowing that she won’t get much more out of Naruto's two teammates. Plus, now she has something else to talk to the Hokage about. Sasuke and Sakura are left alone in the hallway, to wait for word on Naruto's condition, their doubts and fears cloud the air around them.

“I wonder if Naruto-kun's alright," says Hinata, staring in the direction of the medical bay, not even having been in contact with Sasuke and Sakura, since they’ve told everyone with necklaces about taking them off so that the medic nins won’t figure anything out.

“I don’t know," admits Kiba, his usual attitude dissipating. 

Nothing has been going the way they’ve expected it to. Naruto has an ally that scares the crap out of Akamaru from Suna. Gaara's teammates haven’t even been aware of their friendship. Plus, they’ve all seen the condition Naruto is in. Unconscious, burnt, bleeding, and leaking several types of weird chakra is the last image they have of him. Shino’s bugs have freaked out while Akamaru is still refusing to come out of hiding in Kiba's jacket. Hinata has given a report that Naruto's chakra coil system is practically nonexistent. What can have done that kind of damage is beyond any of them.

"I'm going to go ask," announces Hinata quietly, standing up while Kiba and Shino get to their feet, too, unwilling to let Hinata wander around on her own while they’re fairly curious themselves.

They make their way to the medical bay, stopping in the waiting room where Sasuke and Sakura are still. Once there, Hinata goes over to Sakura, sitting beside her. The rosette glances up, giving a watery smile to her. Kiba and Shino go to other empty chairs, looking at Naruto’s two teammates expectantly as if they might know something about Naruto the they don’t.

"Any news?" Kiba asks, his voice quieter than usual as the scent of despair is thick in the air, ruining any chance of him being his normal, self.

Sakura shakes her head, being the only one of the two willing to converse more than necessary. Team Eight nods to varying degrees, settling into various areas around the room. Shino leans against the wall opposite the remainders of Team Seven while Hinata continues to sit on the same bench beside Sakura. Though with a few feet of distance between herself and Sasuke. Kiba goes to crouch roughly in the middle of the room, Akamaru's agitation and his own not allowing him to fully relax. They sit like that as the silence and tension grows thick in the air, for what feels like a thousand eternities, but can’t have been more than a few hours. Someone will occasionally shift while Team Eight will speak now and then through their communication devices, but no one dares say a word out loud. They all look up when the door to the emergency room opens for a young male nurse to come out.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asks immediately, his tone somewhere between hopeless, pleading, and demanding.

"We've have managed to apply the anti-venom successfully. He’s stabilized. We're having trouble healing him due to the nature of the actual wound. It might be beyond our skill level, but we can keep him from getting worse for now. He hasn't shown any signs of improving, though.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie thirty-five. I hope you all enjoyed. The next one will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	36. Resilience

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Hmm, well, this is almost over 100k words thus far. That’s quite an accomplishment I think. It helps that people seem to be enjoying it. If anyone has a suggestion and/or request for a new story then you know what to do…. Just let me know in your comments please. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, enough of me blathering on for now. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 36: Resilience**

Hinata sees Sasuke's face fall, knowing that he’s blaming himself. Most likely he’s over exaggerating the situation in his own mind as the Hyuga tells him, “It’s still too early to tell whether anything will happen, right? He might just be stuck right now or slowed down on healing.” 

The medic nin nods in confirmation of this, “That’s often the case with these types of wounds. He will start to get better within a week.” 

Sasuke seems to become slightly less depressed at those words, knowing that now Naruto can be saved, “When will he be able to have visitors?" 

"Not today. He's still giving off massive amounts of chakra. Any visitors can interrupt the medics' concentration to be harmed themselves,” answers the nurse gently. 

Sasuke nods, sighing in resignation of this. He doesn’t care about getting hurt, but he doesn’t want to draw attention away from Naruto.

“Those arms of yours… They look pretty bad," says the medic, seeing the state of Sasuke's arms with how the skin is peeling off with how badly they’re burned.

"I can deal. Hinata gave me medicine for them. I’ve been hurt worse," assures Sasuke. 

Hinata has in fact given him a cream for the burns. He has had been hurt worse. Dead is worse though. The emotional pain he’s felt in the past and now is way worse than any physical wounds he sustains. 

“I don't want any attention taken away from Naruto,” says the Uchiha firly, leaving no room for argument abut it. 

The medic nurse ndos, understanding his situation clear as day. Every medic nin is actually being rotated in and out of Naruto's room. Any not currently healing him are resting. Majority of them are likely to be unavailable for the extensive amount of chakra that will be required to heal the Uchiha's arms.

"I suggest you guys get some rest. It's past sunset now. We’re not going to have any more news for at the least half a day. You won't be doing anybody any good by staying up; especially you with the burns. You need rest if those are going to heal properly," says the medic sternly. 

Everyone reluctantly nods in agreement. They know that he’s right, but all of them including Sasuke, want to stay. They all stand up to begin walking towards the rooms where they’ve been told they’ll be sleeping when they get in. Right before they split up to go to their separate rooms, Sakura pulls Sasuke aside.

"What is it?" he asks in slight annoyance as all he wants to do is be alone or with Naruto.

She takes a deep breath before replying, “You know how I asked earlier if it’s possible to specifically give up your place to someone?” 

Sasuke nods. He’s been planning on letting Naruto take his place if they are allowed to continue. Besides, if they’re allowed to swap places, since there’s no way the blonde can survive a fight so soon.

"I don't think you need to give your place to Naruto," she says carefully. 

Sasuke tenses, looking like he’s about to yell at her so she rushes to continue, “Don’t yell at me! But it's just that I don't think Naruto wants you to drop out on his account unless you absolutely have to. Naruto also doesn’t want to become a chunin without you. Let me give my place to him, please. I know that I'll never be able to beat more than maybe one of these guys or probably not even that. I’ll never make chunin, not this half of the year. You and Naruto, however can. I’ll get killed if I try at the current state I’m in with my training. You two stand more thana chance."

Sasuke calms down as she speaks. He argues though, wanting to take Naruto's place. The two genin speak amongst themselves for about ten to fifteen minutes until Sakura is able to convince Sasuke finally, the argument of what Naruto wants, winning it for her. They’ve said goodnight before going off in their separate ways. That has been the last thing that happened on the first day of the exam. On the second day, Haku and his team of clones arrive, disguised once more. On the third day the team from Oto arrives along with Team Gai. On the fourth, Kabuto and his team arrive. No one comes on the fifth. Other than that, the days are spent the same as the second half of the last one has been spent. Team Seven and Team Eight wait outside the emergency room. On the third day, Naruto’s declared stable enough to have a single visitor, as long as whoever comes in isn’t a problem. Everyone cycles through. At last, Sasuke comes a second time, not leaving as Naruto shows signs of slight improvement when Sasuke comes to check on him. The Uchiha is actually helpful so no one says anything. Sakura brings in Sasuke's meals while the Uchiha sleeps in a chair next to Naruto's bed. He refuses to get up to go elsewhere. On the sixth day, after the exam has officially closed, all the genin, including Sasuke and Sakura, are summoned to the arena. Both genin know fully well that today will be given the announcement whether or not they’ll be allowed to continue. The Hokage gives his speech, explaining why the chunin exams are held. It goes smoothly enough it seems.

"Hey!" Zaku calls out. "Why are those two leaf brats here? Isn't their teammate down?"

"Yes, about that," the Hokage says although before he can continue has Hayate poofing on in.

"If I can explain, Hokage-sama since I'm the third proctor,” he says, coughing into his hand as the Hokage nods. "Alright. It hasn't been decided whether or not to let Team Seven continue, due to extenuating circumstances."

He explains it all. They’ll be having the preliminaries first. Due to being unable to decide themselves, the people in charge of the chunin exams have agreed to leave the issue of Team Seven's passing up to their fellow genin. That way, no one can fairly complain.

"Is he even in fighting condition?" Kin asks. 

"It depends on how you define 'fighting'. He's giving off massive amounts of chakra which burns whatever it comes into contact with and lashes out violently at any potential threats," he begins to explain, the lashing out has been shown when they first tries scanning his body and Kurama’s chakra, not recognizing the chakra as familiar and safe like it has with Haku's that strikes out, having taken the anti-venom along with some time to get close enough to actually make a difference. “He can't move at all, but if we put him in the middle of the floor to tell you to attack him even if you throw projectiles at him then his chakra will likely automatically deflect it to attack anything within twenty feet of him. His chakra has to potential to kill when like this since it randomly converts to the fire element, occasionally the wind element, and it has once gone to both at the same time."

"They also have both scrolls,” says Hayate through his bit of coughing fits.

"Hasn't Naruto been healed since he comes here though, making that unfair?" Neji asks, pointing out an inherent flaw in letting Team Seven pass.

"He's only been made less dangerous," says Sasuke before Hayate can say anything. “I’ve been near him for about two or three minutes. My arms were badly burnt.” 

"We'll take a vote on whether or not Team Seven will be allowed to continue," Hayate announces. "If they are then it's also an option that someone will be allowed to accede their position in the finals. This specifically is for Naruto. We'll also need to vote on that."

Everyone nods as Hayate starts asking them one by one what they vote for. Kabuto has already left, needing to attend to particular matters. So, he doesn’t get a vote. Though he might of voted to let them stay. Neither of Kabuto's teammates sees anything wrong with it as both are confident that it doesn’t matter if Team Seven continues or Naruto gets to skip the preliminaries since that’s what Orochimaru has told them to say if it becomes an issue.

“It doesn’t matter if any of these weaklings get a free pass. Who knows? It can be amusing watching them suffer," Kin announces, her two teammates agreeing with her.

“I don't give a damn," are Gaara's exact words. His teammates echo the same thought, though not as rudely.

“Yeah, I wish to challenge Uchiha in an official match to prove that the power of the Flames of Youth,” proclaims Lee, thinking it’s a good idea to let them still participate. 

Team Eight say that Team Seven needs to definitely be allowed to pass. Haku and his team of clones pretends not to care. It appears as if the voting time has gone out, seeming as if the permission will go through to allot for Team Seven to be participants of the Exams to become Chunin.

"Well, since no one has voted against while many have voted for, Team Seven will be allowed to continue!" the Hokage announces to all of the genin here.

He nods to Hayate, who continues, “Okay, before we drag Naruto out here, is there anyone willing to give their position to Naruto?"

“i will,” says Sakura before Hinata can volunteer, glancing over at the Hyuga with a small smile, wanting the heiress to prove her cousin wrong, knowing that she can prove her strength to win against him.

Hayate confirms it with her, questioning her on whether or not she’s sure. Yes, she’s more than certain. Sakura turns to walk up the stairs to the railing to watch the proceedings that will follow suit. If things have been normal then she might of thought that it’s Naruto's incredible luck that allows them to continue. Now, though, she isn’t so sure. The vote has gone too easy. She recognizesHaku's chakra signature, learning Gaara is on Naruto's side. So, she’s not too surprised by their consent while Team Eight is likely just supporting Hinata. Team Gai, well, Lee has been acting predictably, showing enthusiasm as to fighting Sasuke. His team has just given off indifference as they probably don’t want to have to argue with Lee about it. The others though have no reason to agree. All of the reasons not to. Before the Wave mission, she won’t have thought about it at all. Before the second exam, she might of thought to brush it off as inconsequential except she has had her doubts. Sasuke notices the same things Sakura has as well. Team Eight has too, though, counting Haku’s teams among the ones who might not have agreed except they are on Naruto’s side to some extent perhaps. Everyone outside of the genin are also suspicious. Team Eight and Team Gai are the only ones for whom it makes sense for them to agree. Before anyone can ask anything, the preliminary fights begin.

"First up, Rock Lee versus Akadō Yoroi.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie thirty-six. I hope you all enjoyed. The next one will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	37. Swan

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Well, we’re almost up into the forties here number wise with the chappies that is. I think it’s a good sign of course. I’m really looking forward to after the Chunin Exams when Jiraiya will show up. So, let’s just say I have plans for after this arc finishes up. Hehes_ **

**_I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 37: Swan**

The fight goes pretty fast. Yoroi's entire attack basis revolves around draining his opponent's chakra which Lee doesn’t have any accessible paths to. Lee kicks him in the head once, ending it. The next fight is between Gaara and Haku. Radiating immense amounts of killer intent before even stepping down to fight, Haku notices this and gives up. Most of the fights are rather uneventful. Gaara, Lee, Neji, Kankurou and Shino all pass without a problem, Neji and Shino finish off Haku's 'team', Kankurou takes out the remaining member of Kabuto's team. The sixth fight is Temari versus Zaku.

"Come on! I have to fight a weak little girl?" Zaku exclaims, facing off against Temari. She smirks.

"Are you so sure I'm weak?" 

“Heh, pretty much,” says before he asks. “How ‘about this then. To even the playing field I'll let you have the first shot!"

_He's way too cocky for his own good,_ Kin thought in annoyance of her teammate, knowing it’ll be detrimental to Naruto's plan if her teammate gets himself killed out of stupidity.

"If you insist," says Temari, gathering her chakra, deciding that this moron is going down to even dare calling her weak. 

Before he can react, he’s lifted two feet off the ground by a blast of wind. Temari sends him flying back to slam against the wall. Bringing her partially open fan back down she has one single moon revealing itself from it.

“that’s what's called a warning shot," she says, a sadistic glint in her eye. "When all three moons are revealed then you lose."

_That bitch!_ Zaku thought, embarrassed and angry as he can hear that Inzukua laughing at him while Kin is giggling under her breath. 

“Impressive, bitch. Now to get serious!" Zaku shouts, readying his sonic attack.

Temari is able to use her wind to cancel out most of Zaku's sound waves. Though a few manage to get by, leading to cuts in her shoulders. The second moon is shown. Zaku sends out another, bigger attack as Temari has only been cut the last time because she’s been taken by surprise. This time she’s able to completely block the attack, swinging her fan out fully. Everyone's sight is blocked as Temari summons a whirlwind. The dust settles shortly after for her is gone. Before Zaku can ask where she is, he gets hit by a gust of wind from above. Temari seems to be flying above his head. Soon, he loses in much the same way Tenten has in the original timeline, his back broken over her fan. No one catches him when she casts him off. Though he’s being carried away by the medic nins. Taking her position next to Gaara, she receives an appreciative nod from her younger sibling in acknowledgement of how well she has performed. The praise flatters her, giving a small smile. The next fight is between Hinata and Tenten.

_So, this is Neji's younger cousin, huh?_ Tenten thought, looking at her opponent as she seems stronger somehow than Neji has described, seeming to be more sure of herself, definitely as she holds herself gracefully, almost like a dancer who’s about to begin her main show. _From the looks of her, I might actually have to fight…_

"Haijime!"

Tenten shifts her arms, feeling the concealed weapons shifting. She'd loosens them before the match begins of course. Hinata settles back as her stance shifts to allow her to move suddenly if the need arises. She’s not planning on attacking first, her style being better for taking out an opponent who’s attacking her, rather than actually charging someone to take them out. They spend about fifteen seconds. It seems almost like an impossibly long time for a ninja, just observing each other. Suddenly, Tenten vanishes for Hinata to turn her Byakugan on full force, swinging her head around swiftly to scan all around her including up and down. She spins as the kunai and shuriken fly towards her, deftly dodging every one. Using her new reflexes and the trajectory of the weapons, she sends a faint chakra pulse in the general direction of what might of been Tenten's location. It won’t do any harm to Tenten, but it’ll make her easier to hit and track. Hinata has already found out that if she leaves a chakra 'marker' on something then she can send out slashed of chakra that’ll zero in on the marked target, focusing on the specific pattern unique to the marking signal. She barely catches Tenten, the kunoichi having almost gone out of the edge of her cone shaped chakra pulse. Hinata doesn’t have the chakra reserves to just blast the area with chakra pulses hence the more calculated and exact strategy she’s using. If she hasn’t improved her speed and reflexes though then she might never been able to catch the now elusive Tenten. Fortunately, she has with having taken Naruto’s feedback to heart, becoming strong enough to combat here with these Exams.

“Sorry, but that strategy isn't going to work against me," announces Hinata, becoming determined to win. 

Tenten has probably been taught it by Neji just in case something like this might happen, since it won’t be useful against any advanced Hyuuga who’s capable of using the chakra spin. Any attacks that don’t deal a massive amount of brute power will be deflected set aside. Other than that, the only way to take out an experienced Hyuuga is to kill or knock them out before they ever are aware that the fight has even begun. Either that Or to hit them in their blind spot which is pretty hard to hit. Tenten comes to a rest on top of the Hokage statue, not reacting to Hinata's words.

"So, you manage to dodge a few kunai and shuriken. That isn't going to save you though," retorts Tenten, letting two of her weapon scrolls drop into her hands. 

These aren’t the ones used for the Twin Rising Dragon technique of course, but they do have weapons advanced enough to take out this kunoichi hopefully. Hinata begins dancing out of the way of the weapons once again. Though this time she does something unexpected. Using her chakra, she latches onto several weapons, turning them around to launch them at Tenten. She doesn’t bother marking them since she doesn’t want to reveal her technique so soon, so if she manages to dodge the weapons will just slam into the wall behind her. Tenten leaps out of the way. Hinata's eyes follow her every movement even if she doesn’t move her head, before the heiress begin moving too as Tenten comes in closer than she has before. Hinata sprints, going as fast as she can. It isn’t that fast by shinobi standards though it’s fast for a member of the normally stout Hyuuga and for a rookie genin. She’s definitely faster than Tenten, focusing on weapons more than she does on taijutsu and speed. Tenten throws more weapons at her while Hinata uses her chakra to snatch a dagger out of the air, spinning around to move under the other weapons. Tenten has been sticking to the wall in order to maintain distance between herself and Hinata. Thus, she can only keep from getting backed into a corner by trying to slip past the Hyuuga heiress. It’s a nice try, but it doesn’t seem to work.

Hinata spins again, catching Tenten's arm. The weapon mistress pulls a katana seemingly out of nowhere. Though Hinata recognizes the activation of a seal on her right wrist, causing the sword to poof into her hand. Hinata brings the dagger up, increasing its sharpness, length and strength with her chakra, literally using the dagger as an extension of her arm. The katana that Tenten has pulled is obviously custom made by a master. Hinata has been taught how to tell a good sword from a bad one, among other things, as a part of her training. This one is purely amazing. In addition to the fine edge along with the obviously high quality of the metal showing in even higher detail by Hinata's Byakugan, it’s quite intricately detailed for it to be a work of art as much as a weapon. The tsuba (hand guard) is carved as a dragon coiled around the sword itself. The handle is weirdly enough, pure black with a carving of a kunai in gold, covered with pink silk in the normal triangle pattern. The blade itself is also beautiful, shining blue in the light. It has a design of a dragon beautifully detailed on it. Though this one looks a bit more dangerous than the one on the tsuba. The kanji for kaeri chi are carved in the blade. It means spurt of blood from one's victim.

_Creepy thing to have carved on a sword… Though I guess it fits for a ninja who specializes in weapons,_ Hinata thought, blocking yet another swing from Tenten with her chakra enhanced dagger. 

She isn’t very good at using weapons though. So, she is losing ground. She’s been instead using the time to scrutinize Tenten including her sword with her Byakugan, looking for any possible weaknesses. Luckily for Hinata, Tenten sucks at short range in comparison to her long range abilities. This is proven when Hinata lashes out with one hand, hitting a pressure point in Tenten's wrist, causing her to release her grip on the sword. Hinata drops the dagger, following up with a second hit with her other hand. This time, she hits Tenten in the shoulder, blocking one of the tenketsu. She still can’t actually make them out very well. How she compensates is by memorizing the locations of the more major ones in the joints, chest, arms, legs, and a few of the other important ones. Due to it being memorized, she doesn’t have the accuracy of Neji or the other, more adept, Hyuuga, but it’s enough to hopefully throw off Tenten's aim.

It does have one immediate effect. Tenten is much slower to react with that arm unable to defend herself as Hinata catches her still active arm. Yanking her forward and down while the Hyuuga spins around behind Tenten, she uses chakra to knock the other girl's legs out from under her. To her credit, Tenten doesn’t go down easily. She expels chakra violently from the bottoms of her feet, pushing back towards Hinata. The other girl manages to avoid being slammed into, spinning partially out of the way even though Tenten still manages to throw her balance slightly off.

The weapons mistress is doing very well for being out of her element, having actually trained in taijutsu a few times with Lee and Gai. She takes advantage of Hinata's balance loss, kicking back in a slightly sweeping motion. She’s able to trip the girl, Hinata's persistent hold on her preventing the girl from being able to dodge effectively. Tenten is taken by surprise when Hinata turns her backwards fall into a back flip, letting go of Tenten to send the other girl sprawling to the floor.

Tenten leaps to her feet as Hinata twists around, managing to end her mid air acrobatics facing Tenten. Tenten activates the seal on her left wrist, pulling out a wakizashi before slashing at Hinata. The girl deflects it with chakra, effectively using her hand a shield. Tenten takes the Hyuga by surprise when she suddenly flings the short sword at the other girl, using the distraction to leap away to ready her Rising Twin Dragons scroll. This one is harder to beat than she’s originally thought to expect. She isn’t nearly as strong as Neji or as experienced, but she clearly has a better head for strategy as she knows how to adapt her unique style to her opponents instead of using the same set of tricks over and over like the rest of her family.

Slamming the two scrolls down on the ground, she speeds through the hand signs. Hinata recognizes the chakra patterns for a summoning jutsu s she gathers chakra to either dodge or block the upcoming barrage. Tenten leaps into the air, throwing the two scrolls as she goes. They twirl around her in a spiral as she twists and turns within them like some kind of dancer, her hands touching the scrolls lightly to come away with deadly weapons. Hinata dances out of the ones she can while she uses her chakra to deflect the others. The spin she gets from dodging actually adds to her ability to block, much like how Neji spins for the Heavenly Spin. She uses strings of chakra rather than sheets of it. Moving from place to place instead of standing still to be aimed at, she pauses when Tenten lands, having run out of weapons. Hinata snaps to attention when her Byakugan picks up the shining of light on metal thread behind her. Tenten yanks on the nin wire, pulling the weapons back towards herself.

_Time to use my new technique_ , Hinata thought, spinning to face the majority of the weapons as she brings her hands up in front of her with the middle and index fingers extending. 

Her finger tips glow with chakra as she rapidly moves them in front of her, weaving a web of chakra to catch the oncoming weapons to cut any nin wire it comes into contact with. The attack blocking most of the weapons as Hinata is able to dodge or specifically deflect most that get through, but about two shuriken and three kunai hits her. Luckily all the bigger and more dangerous weapons have been taken out by her net. Hinata winces as she raises a hand to one of the wounds. There’s a kunai in her right shoulder, both shuriken have hit her legs, one kunai has hit her chest, and the last one has embedded itself in her left arm. Tenten smirks, knowing that it’ll be hard for Hinata to use her techniques with the wounds she’s received so far.

"Well, looks like the heiress of the great Hyuuga clan hasn't managed to live up to her clan name if she's beat so easily by a few kunai and shuriken," taunts Tenten, fairly confident that she’ll win this. 

"The battle isn't over until one of us is unable to fight," replies Hinata, the beginnings of a smile creeping onto her lips as she’ll have to use her ace in the hole apparently.

Tenten is taken by surprise as Hinata yanks both shuriken and all three kunai out of her, coating them with chakra before flinging them at Tenten. It isn’t that Tenten hasn’t seen her moving. It’s that she’s never thought that the Hyuuga will be so stupid as to try that. Tenten really is surprised when the kunai and shuriken change trajectory midflight, heading right at her. She begins to dodge them, but they swing back around.

_What the hell?_ Tenten thought in astonishment. _There’s no way she can be using nin wire that accurately without me being able to see it!_

Tenten sees more weapons heading for her out of the corner of her eye. She isn’t able to stop and catch her breath as the ten or so weapons chase her around, hounding her every step while changing direction midair to follow her. If they’ve been normal, she won’t have had any problem at all. But these won’t stop zeroing in on her. Tenten has been pushing herself hard to move fast enough to not be hit by Hinata's earlier attacks, causing her to tire out quickly. Luckily, Hinata brings the weapons to a halt before they stab her, pointing at her throat, heart, and other vitals as she stands there panting for breath.

"I give up!" Tenten announces, seeing there’s no hope of her prevailing through this. 

It’s clear that Hinata has more endurance than her, or that whatever technique this is, taking up less energy than dodging it does. She doesn’t feel like being stabbed by a bunch of kunai and shuriken if she can avoid it. Her surrender is accepted by the Procter as both she and Hinata walk off to the balcony again.

"Those are some pretty cool techniques," Tenten says to Hinata. "I've never seen anything at all like them before."

"Oh, thanks!" Replies Hinata, heat rushing to her cheeks lightly to coat them in a brush of pastel pink. "Your techniques are good, too! I've never seen anyone below high jounin level use a sword like that before!"

Tenten smirks. "Well, maybe I can train you with weapons and you canhelp me with ninjutsu! I've never really gotten much training, since I'm not from a ninja family… Gai-sensei isn't good with ninjutsu. Plus, even if I don't ever really use ninjutsu, it’ll be nice to know how to fight it."

Hinata nods, thinking this is a good trade off. "Okay. My techniques can really be improved if I used a weapon since I don't have the endurance or skill to take on more than one or maybe two opponents at a time. Having a weapon will mean that I can conserve chakra for getting into position to attack, using jutsus like the one I used to beat you and increasing my speed to dodge."

The two girls keep on talking, their conversation strays to Neji and other Hyuuga clan members. Tenten is fairly curious about her enigmatic teammate while Hinata needs someone to talk to who’ll talk back (certain people aren’t very good about replying) or isn’t overly biased, doesn’t have ANDHD (main problem with Kibaand who won’t randomly decide to kick Neji or whoever's ass for being a bastard. (Yet another issue with talking to Kiba. Everyone's attention turns over to the exam proctor as the next match is given the announcement.

"The next match is between Uchiha Sasuke and Kinuta Dosu!” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie thirty-seven. I hope you all enjoyed. The next one will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	38. Plume

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. I hope you all are enjoying it so far. Hmm, well, we still have a ways to go until the Chunin Exam arc is done with unfortunately. Though it gives me some thought of how to improve on fight scenes as that’s always been a struggle for me to write._ **

**_Anyway, enough of me blathering on. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 38: Plume**

Both shinobi step down onto the field. Sasuke is itching for a fight due to his pent up frustration and worries over the situation with Naruto put him on edge. It probably will help to take it out on someone. Specifically, some random nobody that he just happens to be in an anything goes match with a Sound nin.

"Haijime!"

The two male shinobi don’t spend nearly as long gauging each other as the kunoichi have. They almost immediately go on the offensive, Sasuke leaping towards Dosu as the Oto shinobi prepares his attack. Sasuke sees the buildup of chakra, knowing it’s something worrying. He figures out what it is when a wave of sound energy hits him from the side, bursting his right eardrum that causes him to fall to the floor in a gasping fit from the sharp sudden pain shooting through the area.

"Heh, looks like the great Uchiha isn't all that he’s made out to be," Dosu comments, a small smirk gracing his lips.

The prone Uchiha smirs as well, “Guess again.” 

Dosu's eyes widen as a hand breaks through the surface underneath him, pulling him into the floor. The Sasuke he’s hit with his jutsu disappears in a cloud of smoke.

_I'm damn lucky Naruto insists I not only learn that move but learn how to use it,_ Sasuke thought, pulling himself out of the ground after his Doton jutsu. 

That one he’s learned, along with a few others, from a scroll Naruto has borrowed' from Kakashi. Though Sasuke doubts that their sensei realizes that he’s lending something out in the first place. Sasuke has only recently been able to get the Kage Bunshin down, capable of only making one at a time if he plans on using higher level jutsu like his Katon due to his comparatively low chakra reserve. It’s not even useful in a fight since he can’t keep them around as long as Naruto can. They are only actually useful for distractions at one point in the fight (cloning multiple times in one fight is hard because, once again, Sasuke doesn’t have as much chakra as Naruto and Kakashi do. Speaking of Kakashi, he’s mildly surprised that Sasuke knows both the Doton jutsu he’s used on him in the genin test along with the Kage Bunshin. The Uchiha has probably learned the Kage Bunshin from copying Naruto. Though he probably might not have been able to use it just by seeing it a few times with his Sharringan since he likely doesn’t have enough chakra for it to effectively work. Well, apparently he does by the looks of it. Dosu fires up his arm technique again, aiming for Sasuke. The Uchiha has seen it before with his Sharingan when Dosu hit him, but he can’t replicate it due to not having the device Dosu is using. besides, he doesn’t know how to dodge it. Seeing the Oto nin gather his chakra like he has before Sasuke's clone has popped, Sasuke starts speeding through hand seals. He can’t afford to let Dosu's attack go through or he’ll lose for sure. His arms feel almost like they are on fire as he gathers the little bit of chakra he needs for his fire jutsu in his arms, the remaining gathering in his lungs, throat, and mouth. Like he has for the Kage Bunshin and the Doton jutsu, Sasuke ignores the feeling of his already damaged tenketsu being given further strain.

"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" Sasuke cries out, using one of his older techniques that perhaps Dosu likely never has seen it before due to how it’s fairly hard to dodge if the target doesn’t know how.

The Oto nin's concentration is interrupted for him to have to stop gathering chakra as he attempts to dodge the giant fire ball heading right for him. He still gets scorched along his right side. Almost immediately his sound device stops working as some of the interior wiring melts. This is really bad. He’s pretty much been relying on his ability to produce sound waves to fight ever since he first has been able to access the speaker like armband. Though this is the backlash that happens when only having one trick to use. While Dosu tries in vain to get his techniques working again, Sasuke rushes at him to kick at him, using the taijutsu he’s copied from Lee to send the Oto nin flying into the air. He finishes it off quickly, using the Leaf Shadow dance to appear behind Dosu to send him crashing to the floor with a single kick. He doesn’t bother doing more, since the Oto nin obviously isn’t going to be doing much more fighting.

"The winner is Uchiha Sasuke!" the exam proctor announces as Sasuke just walks off to the upper level to stand with Sakura without making a sound. 

“Will the winning combatants please step down to the floor!" the Hokage exclaims to grab their attention as Sasuke, Gaara, Shino, Neji, Hinata, Kin, Temari, Lee, and Kankurou all step on down.

The raffle goes pretty much the same as it has last time. Though this time around Naruto, not Sasuke, is the one missing. Hinata draws number one, Neji number two, Naruto number three, Shino number four, Lee number five, Temari number six, Sasuke number seven, Gaara number eight, Kankurou number nine, and Kin number ten. The explanation goes on the same, too. The first match is between Hinata and Neji while the second one is between Naruto and Shino and so on. Match six is between the winners of matches one and two. Match seven is between the winners of matches three and four. Match eight is between the winners of matches seven and five. Match nine will be the final match, between the winners of matches six and eight.

"You will have one month to prepare while we send out invitations.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie thirty-eight. I’m so sorry for the lateness of this update, but my original book series Lunar Blitz takes up majority of my time and focus. I try to work on and update my fanfics as soon as I possibly can. Thank you all for your patience and continued support. It means a lot to me._ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t take too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	39. Flight

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Well, it seems that this is the only thing I’m updating often unfortunately. I just don’t have much time to work on fanfiction nowadays with my original work series taking up majority of my focus. I still try my hardest to update stuff even though sometimes it may take longer to do so. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 39: Flight**

Sasuke is feeling slightly worrisome. Naruto will be under for a good bit of that if things keep on going as they are still. Hopefully the blonde will make one of his miraculous recoveries for him to have time to train. Who is he kidding anyway? It’ll be beyond miraculous if Naruto survivesin the first place let alone recovering fast enough to train before the match to actually fight within a month. With these thoughts weighing heavily on his mind, he fails to notice someone trying to get the attention of everyone. 

“Hokage-sama, about that,” one of the chunin says, walking up.

"What?" Asks the hokage.

"Uh, well, shortly after the second exam ends for us to have no clue how, a large number of snakes get into the nesting area, they ate all of the messenger hawks that haven’t already been sent out or in the possession of a specific shinobi. We don't have enough hawks nor shinobi to send messages out within a month,” the chunin says albeit a tad nervously as one of the Hokage's eyebrow starts twitching in annoyance.

The arena is so silent that anyone might of heard a pin drop. Orochimaru, in the disguise as the Sound team's sensei, has to resist laughing. What? Due to how he hasn’t been able to mark Sasuke, his plans have been thrown back! He’ll have to hunt the Uchiha down again, get him alone, test him, and then mark him! That, along with all the preparations for invading Konoha will take what seems like almost ages. He needs extra time while he and his snakes' favors food being poultry; especially from Konoha. Plus, the look on the Hokage's face when he learns that snakes have eaten most of their messenger hawks is absolutely priceless.

"Okay, then you have however long it takes us to send out messages to train! Expect about two months," the Hokage says out of frustration, knowing that it won’t take too long since they can always send out messages with shinobi, but the time will at the least double at that rate.

If the Hokage is cursing then he must be flustered. Inner Sasuke is cheering. Two months! With Naruto's healing rate, he can do that easy. Though the other combatants will all also have that long to train. Damn, he hasn’t thought of that. The genin are given dismissal as they all go off on their separate ways. Sasuke makes a beeline for Naruto's room, Sakura and Hinata fall in step behind him. Both kunoichi visit Naruto several times a day even though Hinata's teammates generally just hang around outside the door. All three have the foreboding feeling that something is very wrong as they approach the medic ward. Ino scowls as she pulls leaves out of her hair. Their team has been completely unable to find a scroll in the possession of someone actually weaker than them. She might of sworn that there are several teams weaker than them in the exam room, but of course they’ve all dropped out.

"Hey guys!" Asuma calls out, seeing them exit the forest unsuccessful, but Shikamaru or otherwise known as the intelligent one, picks up on the strained undertone in his sensei's voice. 

"What's going on?" Shikamaru asks suspiciously.

Asuma sighs, not wanting to be the bearer of this news although has no choice, “Naruto’s in bad condition. Team Seven passed the second exam while both he and Sasuke are going to be competing in the third in two months. The catch is that it’s uncertain if Naruto is going to live that long."

“Wh-what do you mean?" Ino stutters out as she and her teammates are taken aback in shock of this admission. 

Asuma takes a drag on his cigarette before replying, “The combatants of the third exam were decided by preliminary matches. Sakura dropped out from what I know of. Though I guess you're asking what happened to Naruto, huh?” 

All three members of Team Ten nods. Ino is a bit shocked personally even more that Sakura has dropped out of the chunin exams. Why? She’s always going on about how she’s better than Ino, becoming chunin will prove that! So, why just give up?

"He was hurt badly in the second exam when his team fought an opponent they couldn't beat. His chakra coils are collapsing and constantly burning from the inside. The medics had him stabilized, but…"

"What the fuck do you mean, he's getting worse?!” The voice of Sasuke yells although shrieking this out is probably closer to the sound he makes.

"He destabilized about half an hour ago. We're sorry, but his condition keeps on getting worse and worse. We might be able to keep him alive for about six or even seven more weeks since he's healing himself pretty fast. But there’s no way we can bring him out of his coma let alone pull him through alive," the medic explains, noticing it’s the same male who has told them about Naruto's condition earlier.

"Sasuke, calm down!" Sakura exclaims, putting her hand on his arm although he throws her hand off as his eyes are wild open with raw emotion evident behind his walls. "Panicking isn't going to help anyone!" 

Turning to the medic, she asks, “You said that you guys don't have the skills to keep him alive. Is there someone who does?"

The medic nin nods slowly, “Tsunade-sama is the most skilled medic nin who ever lived. She might be able to do something, but she hasn't been seen or heard from in years. Last that anyone has heard is that she's refusing to use her medical skills."

Sasuke stops struggling, staring at the medic, “Where is she?" 

"I'm sorry, but I don't know," the medic nin says, shaking his head slowly.

"THEN WHO DOES?!" Sasuke demands in. Loud voice as he lets his anger boil over.

"Jiraiya, the Toad Sennin, was her teammate," Hinata says, putting her hand on Sasuke's shoulder, whirling around to face her. "He might know something. Hokage-sama might know where Jiraiya is."

Sasuke nods before turning on his heel to find the military leader of Konohagakure. He will do everything in his power to find the damn medic Tsunade, no matter how many people he has to bug, no matter how hard and long he has to look, he knows for a certainty that Naruto can and will not die on him. Hinata and Sakura follow him quietly, glancing between them at each other as Sasuke leads the way to leave the medic behind, having the medics in bewilderment at the passion of one of the last Uchiha. Going back to their work, the medic who’s spoken to Sasuke informs the others that they will be bringing Tsunade here soon, assuring that they will continue to keep him in a stable condition until she can be here to properly see to him. 

”Hokage-sama! Please tell us where Jiraiya-sama is,” pleads Hinata, desperate to help her own love along with Sasuke to find some way to save their comrade, Naruto.

The Hokage sighs. He’s starting to feel way too old for this! It isn’t that he doesn’t want to help Naruto any way possible or that he doesn’t want the genin to help their friend, but he feels concern about several things. First of all, the likely hood that the two sannin will even agree to help the three genin in the first place is extremely low. Tsunade will probably just send them flying through the nearest wall, if they even get that far. Secondly, and most importantly, the council isn’t very likely to allow Hinata, her team, Sasuke, and Sakura to go off on a wild goose chase for a sannin that has been missing for many years right before three of them participating in the finals of the chunin exams. Hiashi in particular will throw a fit. Still, it won’t hurt to let them at least try.

"Alright, but only on one condition," he finally laments to their request.

"What?" Sasuke asks as his patience runs thin.

Sarutobi pauses for a second before replying, “The three of you and Hinata's team will have to leave Konoha to find Tsunade. With it being so close to the chunin exams, that's not likely to happen. Also, I can't send a group of genin on a mission with the specific goal of bringing back a sannin since that will be too high a rank for any genin; especially rookies. All of the ninja above genin level other than the senseis are currently being required to protect the village, do missions necessary for the village's survival, and send out messages. We don't have any extra man power to assist you. I’ll allow you to go anyways if it’s up to me, but the Council is another issue."

"We have to convince them to let us go," Sakura says, realizing what the Hokage is getting at.

He nods in resignation, “The main people to convince are the Hyuuga, Aburame, and Inuzuka clan leaders. My two main advisors, Homaru and Koharu, will also have to be convinced. You'll need to convince both of your sensei and come up with a good excuse. Any other council members you can get on your side will help."

"The excuse is easy," smirks Sasuke as everyone turns to look at him. "A training trip. Sakura is planning on specializing in medical ninjutsu and genjutsu. She can receive training from Kurenai on this trip. I also need genjutsu training since Kakashi isn't all that good at it. I don't have beyond the most basic understanding of genjutsu. Hinata needs to be trained by someone with a large repertoire of jutsu; especially water based ones. Kiba and Shino can further their tracking abilities under Kakashi and Jiraiya, since Kurenai likely isn’t able to teach them much. Both Kakashi and Jiraiya are tracking experts, right? For the travel part, there are many biomes that we can easily reach with a few days travel that aren't available in Konoha, being able to go find them to train will be a huge asset. If we explain it like that with the upcoming chunin exams, they can't really argue effectively. Jiraiya helping probably won't be given much argue against since the clans wil be honored to have him train their heirs. There’s no reason why not other than him disagreeing."

"We can even make one of the goals of the training trip to find Tsunade within a month and a half. That’ll be great training in tracking and a realistic situation," pitches in Sakura to add to it.

“Well, it sounds like you three will do fine. The only concern is convincing Jiraiya and then Tsunade to help you. Jiraiya is actually here in Konoha for research purposes. So, finding him won’t be that much of an issue. He’s not very likely to want to assist you though. I wish you all good luck in this endeavor.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of cahppie thirty-nine. I apologize if it’s a little short, but I think this is fitting for the context that has gone down this time. Hopefully you all enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone for your patience and continued support for this and all of my other works. It’s sincerely appreciated of course._ **

**_The next chappie will be out whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	40. Steam

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Well, now, we’re in the forties for this chappie amount wise. That’s quite amazing in my opinion, but I knew from the start that this might be rather long. There’s still a long ways to go before we’re even close to finishing this. Though I hope you continue to enjoy reading it of course. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, enough of me blathering on for now. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice comments._ **

**Chapter 40: Steam**

Before the Hokage can continue any further, Sasuke interjects, “It doesn't matter. If he doesn't want to help us. We’ll find Tsunade on our own. You are her grandfather, right? You know where she’ll likely be."

The Hokage sighs as he nods, “Yes, but she's more likely to help you if Jiraiya's there to reason with her. About getting Jiraiya to help, he's probably only going to if there's something in it for him.” 

“What do we need to do?" Asks Sasuke, wanting to get the whole deal over with. 

He feels confused and tired, wanting to see his dobe awake again. The blonde enigma has set him adrift, completely turning his world upside down. The stupid weakling is a powerful genius. The underneath the underneath is barely scratching the surface. The coincidence isa planned out event or even a cover up story. The blonde that’s always smiling, laughing, and boasting that always has acted overconfident and annoying, is hated by most of the village. Never has Naruto ever had a real friend to speak of before Sasuke. Both of them have practically raised themselves, having never even known the names of his parents while Sasuke knows all the names of his clan. The blonde that Sasuke has always thought he dislikes for being loud and obnoxious is the only thing he can really think about. He hasn’t even thought about his older brother or his dead family since Naruto has been bitten when normally he thought of them many times a day! His mind has been preoccupied with thoughts of how to help Naruto get the credit he deserves, oddly enough striving to help him survive. He’s thought of revenge, not on Itachi, but on Orochimaru for putting the blonde into this turbulent situation in the first place. He doesn’t think about gaining power, but instead about how to lure the greatest medic nin in the world back to Konoha so that she can heal Naruto. The way Naruto manages to invade his thoughts and emotions, the way he reactsto the blonde, the way he feels, is what confuses Sasuke the most of all. 

_Dobe….. I’ll see what I can do._

()()()()()

“I am sorry Uchiha-san, but we cannot allow you to do this," Koharu, the female teammate of the current Hokage and one of his two top advisors says to him. 

“Why not?" Sasuke asks, barely containing his rage, never having been good at controlling his emotions though instead just burying them so deep he rarely has to deal with them. 

“The final stage of the chunin exams that you are in, is in two months. Going off on a wild goose chase after a sannin that has not been seen nor heard from in more than a decade will ruin any chances you have. She is not going to be found in time. The excuse of a training trip that you try to give us is ridiculous. The only reason you'd need to train in foreign biomes is for your fight with Gaara. Suna is too far away for a genin or your level to get permission to train there, arrive there, and arrive at a training ground, with enough time left over to train to return. You do not need to see the world to prepare for a controlled battle. The only reason to go is to protect that creature. That’s not enough of a reason to put you at risk of getting caught by Orochimaru or otherwise hurt. Besides, even if the Hokage says you can go, and assigns you a mission, you are under aged. With the death of your family, Koharu-san and I are your legal guardians. We have all say over whether or not you can leave the village until you turn come of age,” Komaru explains with a stoic expression, leaving no further room for argument. .

"His name's Naruto, not a creature,” growls out Sasuke, knowing that the fact that Komaru and Koharu thought so little of Naruto. 

Bristling in furthering anger, he glares daggers at the both of them. Knowing that he isn’t going to be able to convince them including that if he stays any longer, he might do something he’ll end up regretting later, Sasuke turns on his heel to walk stiffly out of the room. Swiftly after he’s out of their sight, he breaks into a run. After some time, he slows panting heavily, as he senses Hinata approaching. He’s run far, out to a seclusive area in the forest. No one ever comes out here anyway. It has been where he has trained with Itachi, every now and again. Now, it’s his place to escape the world around him. He hasn’t been here since the day of graduation; a record for him.

“Fuck!" he screams out, punching the nearest tree as he relishes the pain, as it focuses his tumultuous thoughts, clearing the haze of red rage that has been building behind his eyes.

Sliding down the tree into a seating position, he pulls his knees to his chest, hugging them to him as he buries his head in his arms. The defeat weighs heavily on him, wondering what other option is there considering he hasn’t been able to gain their favor.

“Otou-sama said no. I'm guessing that the advisors shared his views?" Hinata asks, sitting down next to Sasuke, having already talked to Sakura whose parents don’t want her having anything to do with Naruto.

"I want to kill them," Sasuke growls/ choked out, his hands clenching, nails biting into skin.

“But if you do that, then we can't help Naruto," Hinata says, trying to be a voice of reason here.

“We can't help Naruto anyway! Haven’t you heard the medic? Without someone as skilled as Tsunade, Naruto's doing to die…. We’re not even being allowed to look!" Burst out Sasuke in a yell at her.

Hinata remains calm, refusing to have a break down. Luckily, she, unlike Sasuke, has never had her training in the ways of the head family of a clan cut short. Plus, she’s the heiress, meaning her training is twice as intense. A focal point of that training is to never show that something bothers her when dealing with an emergency along with never ever panicking. She has never been very good at it when it comes to putting up with being called weak and useless or when just practicing. But this is something entirely different it seems. This is for Naruto, Sasuke, and the entire village if she thought about it. It isn’t just for her anymore.

“Hokage-sama will likely send Jiraiya out on his own. Also, even if he doesn't or if Jiraiya refuses, then we can seek her out ourselves," pipes up Hinata, her voice even calmer than before even though she’s never done anything like this, ready to spite everything to break the rules for those she cares about.

Sasuke turns his attention to look at her, “You mean we’ll become missing-nin? It can probably work. We won’t face that many repercussions or problems along the way. The ANBU and all senseis whose students aren't in the finals are tied up with sending messages. They can’t be spared. That leaves Gai, Kurenai, and Kakashi. Gai isn't likely to come after us since he needs to train Lee and Neji. If we leave Shino behind, then that'll tie up Kurenai. We don’t really have any use for him, anyway, if he doesn’t have something of Tsunade’s so that his bugs can get her scent or chakra signature. Kakashi will be our only problem, but I'm fairly certain we can avoid him if we're careful. Konoha won't want to appear weak during the exams, when so many potential customers are visiting. So, our disappearance is very likely to be kept a complete secret. A training mission' provides us with an excuse. It will look bad if the heir and heiress of the two most prestigious clans in Konoha go rouge for the scapegoat. Our return is likely to noticeable. If we are punished then they’ll have to admit that not only have we come to the decision to leave, we got away. if we bring back Tsunade for us to still do well in the finals then they can't argue much against it."

Hinata nods, agreeing with Sasuke's reasoning, having thought pretty much the same thing when coming up with the plan, “Alright, sounds good. We can’t tell anyone or take anyone with us. Nope, not even Kiba, Sakura, or the Hokage.” 

Sasuke agrees to this, standing up. Suddenly, he isn’t as enraged or as tired as before. He just feels a new sense of determination flow through him. They come to the agreement to meet in the same place right after sunset that day, allowing them time to pack and find out the Hokage's plan. 

()()()()()

"I'm sorry that your guardians forbade you from going," says the Hokage, not having even come to the convincing the rest of the council, or Shino and Kiba's parents. “I have been in contact with Jiraiya. He will be looking for Tsunade alone.”

All three of the genin nod. Now, to Hinata and Sasuke, this presents both a problem and solution. Jiraiya is just as likely as the Hokage to take two young genin outside of the village without permission. He most likely won’t like the company anyway. He can discover them while they are searching, hopefully able to sabotage the whole thing. On the other hand, if they follow to find and/ or convince Tsunade to go then he might be able to do what they can’t on their own.

“Hai," the three say in unison. 

_I just know something is going on here, but I don’t know what,_ thought the Hokage to hismelf, brushing it aside for now as he can’t put his finger on it.

“You three can go now. I wish you all good luck in your future endeavors.” 

()()()()()

“Are you ready?" Asks Hinata, shifting the pack she carries with her.

“Hn," Sasuke replies, nodding slightly as they begin to move as quietly as they can, avoiding the patrols and random roaming ninja with Hinata's Byakugan.

They slip on past the thinning out guards with little trouble. The desire to send out invitations as fast as possible has led to a reduce in number and quality of the guards on duty. Thus meaning that two genin fresh out of the Academy are more than able to get away quite easily enough. What no one, not the duo leaving Konoha behind to save the blonde they both love, not the guards on duty, not the forest animals even, notice is the pair of amber eyes following the two genin, weaving on a scaly belly in and out of tree roots and bushes. 

()()()()()

"What do you mean, they're missing?" Kurenai exclaims, staring at the Hokage while Kakashi's book that he’s been reading nonchalantly as the Hokage gives them their news falls to the floor long forgotten. 

“Both Hinata and Sasuke have slipped off sometime last night. They left almost identical notes, explaining why they left along with what they plan to do," the Hokage says again, taking out the notes before handing them to the two jounin.

_To the Hokage, Kakashi, and those two damn advisors,_

_As you've probably noticed, I'm no longer in Konoha. Last night, I left with Hinata. Since her father and the two damn advisors (you two if you're reading this) said we couldn't leave to find Tsunade so that she could heal Naruto, we've decided to find her ourselves. We're not willing to leave Naruto's fate in the hands of a guy we don't even know, who isn't on good terms with Tsunade to begin with, if what we hear is true._

_We don't know how long we'll be gone, but we will try to be back within six weeks; seven at the most._

_Do not come looking for us. You will not find us. We will not give up. We will find Tsunade, we will convince her to help and will save Naruto! I don't give a damn what all of you think or say or even do, I'm not abandoning Naruto!_

- _Sasuke_

Kakashi stares at the fairly short note. He has to agree with Sasuke's sentiments even if he has a problem with the Uchiha's methods. His sensei will never have left a teammate in peril if there’s anything he can possibly do about it. Plus, he will never have let any of his students leave a comrade behind, either. The six or seven weeks comment brings the realization dawn on Kakashi with a jolt. That’s the time Naruto has been given by the medics to live. About a month and a half is all the time allots to the jinchurriki. It’s strange, to know of death beforehand as well as to know of the death of one so full of life.

_No, Sasuke, I don't think anyone will find you. Of course, nobody might be looking_ , Kakashi thought, knowing he’s the only one free to go after the two wayward genin, wanting to do his best to help his student although that doesn’t mean he won’t get close of course. _Sadly, I probably won't be able to join them since the Advisors and Root will surely find out somehow. It’s not worth the trouble. Anyway, I want to see how well they do._

"Kakashi, you are the only one above low chunin level free enough for this mission," the Hokage says as he turns his attention directly on the copycat. “Will you accept the B-rank, liable to turn A or even S-rank, mission of finding, bringing back, and protecting if need be, Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Hinata?"

“Hai, Hokage-sama," replies Kakashi without an ounce of hesitation, knowing that it’s going to be him heading out on this by himself.

“Good. You are all dismissed.” 

()()()()

“Sakura!" Ino calls out, running to catch up with the nearly rose haired kunoichi she’s manage to glimpse through the crowd.

“What is it, Ino?" Sakura asks, shoulders slumping a bit while her tone is heavy. 

"I-I," Ino begins, suddenly unsure of what she wants to say really to her, trying to gather her thoughts again. 

"You what?" Asks Sakura, her tone not even showing mild interest in the slightest. 

“I thought you might want to go train with me," Ino begins, words flowing out in a rush, not knowing what she’s saying, but it feels right. "I need some training in something since I'm always so weak and helpless in battle… I’ve been thinking

 

genjutsu won’t hurt to know. Plus, I know that you’ll also have the chakra control so I thought maybe we can find Kurenai-sensei to get her to help train us.” 

She pauses, waiting for Sakura to answer. A knot forms in the pit of her stomach, hoping that she uses the right words with her while still feeling anxious about it all. Sakura pauses as well, her brain sluggish with sleep deprivation and lack of food. Trying to comprehend the swiftly said words, she thinks that she knows how to respond to her.

“Sure," she says, after a tortuous half a minute, smiling slightly as her tone lifts a little bit.

Ino smiles back, grabbing her hand before beginning to run to where she knows Team Eight trained. Maybe she can begin to piece together her shattered friendship with Sakura.

“You don't seem to be going after Sasuke," Ino comments casually, immediately regretting it after she blurts it out. 

Though she doesn’t react like Ino expects as she tells her, “To be honest I’ve been fooling myself with trying to hide from the truth. I can tel he likes guys and I like girls. He and I won’t ever mix together. I’m better off remaining as friends with him because there won’t ever be anything else between us.” 

Ino stops running, pulling Sakura to a halt, “Sakura…. Look at me.” 

Sakura does so for Ino to take her hand away before continuing, “It’s going to be okay! Sasuke's gone with Hinata to find Tsunade-sama, right? Well, they'll bring her back. She’ll heal him! Everything will be fine for us to to find out if Sasuke likes girls, boys, himself, or no one.” 

Sakura giggles slightly at the last sentence. It does seem that the only person Sasuke will ever fall in love with is himself at times. It’s almost like having their own Narcissus walking around the village. Though she along with others can tell that Naruto is the only one for the Uchiha’s attention, heart, and soul. She quickly quiets down again though. 

“But what if he can't, Ino?” She brings up to ask, stopping the brief moment of bliss between them.

"He will. He won't let Naruto die. Neither will Hinata of course. Tsunade’s a medic nin! She can't be such a cold hearted bitch that she'll let someone like Naruto just die,” says Ino firmly, looking Sakura in the eye as the other girl hesitantly nods in confirmation.

“I guess you're right,” shrugs Sakura, still not entirely convinced.

“Of course I am. Anyway, so, who are you interested in then if it’s not Sasuke anymore?” Nudges Ino to know.

Heat rushes to Sakura’s cheeks, unsure if she can admit it. The other kunoichi she has an intense attraction towards has caught notice of it too. From what she has seen does confirm the the one of interest does have it back towards her. Though they never have spoken it aloud has her recall that they have with their stare alone. It does make her wonder, hoping that she’ll be back in one piece. It does worry her even though she has Sasuke accompany her to ensure there’s protection in place in case of any danger. Of course Hinata fights better than any of the aspiring kunoichi here, but she can’t help except to continue worrying. 

“I-It’s….Hinata,” admits Sakura while her cheeks redden to a fiercer shade of scarlet. 

“Heh, well, at least you have a good taste,” winks Ino, ensuring that she’ll keep it a secret if Sakura doesn’t want it to be public.

“Thanks,” slightly smiling again, she feels glad to be back in friendly waters with Ino after such a long time where they’ve been rivals.

“C’mon, let’s go find Kurenai now before the day flies away from us.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie forty. I hope you all enjoyed. Hmm, well, it’ll be quite interesting how events unfold from here on out. Of course I have quite a number of plans in mind for this along with the rest of my works. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, the next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	41. Clash

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Well, there’s not much left I need to revise until I continue further on this with my own spin to it. I’ll alert y’all in my beginning notes when we reach that point. It’ll still be a while until then of course._ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice reviews._ **

**Chapter 41: Clash**

Sasuke lets himself relax ever so slightly. Most probably will still say he’s quite wound up as tight as a bowstring, but this is the most relaxed he’s been since Orochimaru bit Naruto.

It’s nice, talking with Hinata as he has been.

They spend most of the day searching for Tsunade, using any methods available to them. Hinata uses her Byakugan to scour the area once every thirty minutes when in town, every fifteen on the road, unless she’s asleep even then she wakes up once or twice, if she’s on edge thrice or four times, a night, if she’s at all restless. They show Tsunade's picture around as they give the most accurate description they can on the basis of what they know. Sasuke uses his Sharingan heightened eyes to pick up on even the faintest hint that someone is hiding any part of the truth. When someone conveniently forgets something, they pried the information out of them, whether through force, trickery, bribery, or some other method.

 

They normally sleep about seven hours a night total, taking turns at watch. Some days it’s even less. Always, their sleep is rather fitful to be hardly regenerating. If they don’t find Tsunade soon then they might collapse from sleep deprivation if stress or some enemy (Sasuke and Hinata both have the sneaking suspicion that Orochimaru might be following them then it won’t take them out first.

 

Despite the vigorous searching and strange sleep schedules. There’s still time given to them, trying to achieve this in less than two months time. normally in the middle of the night when neither can find sleep, when they have nothing to do, and they’ve just sit there and talk. It’s strange to Sasuke. Hinata understands a part of him not even Naruto has ever come close to seeing let alone get or have a chance of fixing.

 

It is an old wound, from before the massacre. It’s one that will never have had even the remotest of chances of healing if not for his companionship with Hinata. It isn’t what most will think of when they thought of an emotional wound. It’s still there, though no matter how far the grains of the hourglass fall. The scars remain there plain as the daylight itself. 

It’s the pain of disappointing everyone around him, of being hold to expectations he can never hope to meet. A specific kind of loneliness, feeling as if he’s isolated by his failures. The despair that comes with thinking that no matter what he does that it’ll never be enough to get the love he desires. Hinata understands all of those feelings all too well. It’s what she too feels from her father, her clan, and inadvertently her sensei and teammates. It isn’t something Naruto can ever hope to understand. The only expectations held of Naruto are the ones he sets forhimself and the expectation to fail that others set him. He can never truly disappoint anyone, because they aren’t counting on that much from him in the first place. He can only surprise them with his skill that they’ve all thought to be impossible for him to possess, not make them sad or angry with the lack of skill which he might have. On the other hand, the people who that might be disappointed in Sasuke are dead and buried before he can ever prove himself to them, before he can show them he isn’t someone to be ashamed of, to be disappointed in. They can never acknowledge his skill, gainsafter they have all died. Hinata is different in that aspect. She can prove herself to her family. She still has a chance.

 

It’s still nice, to know that someone other than his elder brother understands the expectations a child of a clan leader. He’s also learned how deep Hinata's feelings for Naruto run, having to admit to the pang of jealousy that grips his heart.

Feelings he’s never known before or hasn’t felt in years are welling up inside of him, threatening to drown him with their intensity. They have started shortly before he’s put on the same genin team as Naruto. Foolishly, he has shoved them aside, ignoring them. Now, their intensity multipliesmany times over, they broadsidehim, rushing him and tearing down the barriers he has erected around his heart when Itachi killed their entire clan.

 

He feels entirely exposed and vulnerable, hating all of this with all of the confusion it brings. He hated feeling this strongly.

 

He hated being driven so close to despair at the thought of how hurt Naruto is. He loathes feeling it is his fault, that he’s weak and worthless, unable to save Naruto from the snake, unable to defend himself. He loathes his weakness, his lack of strength. Naruto has never given any expectations for anything of him unlike everyone else in the entire world. Yet, Sasuke has failed him the most of all.

 

He swears that he will become stronger, powerful enough to not endanger Naruto further, to wipe this weakness from himself. While he’s at it he’ll rip any enemies of theirs into a thousand pieces. It’ll serve as a good enough test of his strength, figuring that all of this while leaning against the trunk of a tree, high in the branches to avoid the things that prowl on the ground. He and Hinata have decided it’s best to not stay in hotels since that will use up money better spent on bribes and essentials. They brought their food, of course since hunting and gathering will take too much time out of their search. Neither he nor Hinata have been able to sleep that night, but they do not engage in conversation. They are both too on edge, able to feel that something big is coming their way. If they have known what it is then they might have done things a bit differently for maybe their fate might of gone ever so slightly. They might've been able to spare themselves and others so much senseless agony. Hindsight is twenty twenty though. Unfortunately, they lack the ability to see into the future. Life trudges forwards, dragging the two genin and the entire Universe including all of its inhabitants along with it through the shifting tides of time. It’s always flowing like the great rivers that course into the ocean.

Kakashi curses under his breath, his patience wearing thin. Damn it all to hell! Especially Orochimaru, thinking he deserves his own layer of hell. The damn snake has thrown him off the trail of the two genin. Now, he’s currently in a state of barely swallowing down his panic. Orochimaru is clearly after the two unguarded genin, both of whom possess highly valuable and sought after bloodlines. Kakashi is sure Orochimaru is dying to get his hands on.

It’s a miracle Team Seven has held out long enough for the ANBU to arrive when they met Orochimaru in the forest. Then, the snake has been playing with them. Then, enraging a jinchurriki with more access to his demonic power than he should've had been absorbing all the blows from the sannin, holding him off right until the very end. Naruto isn’t there this time while Orochimaru is quite serious about completing his aspirations no matter the cost. Sasuke and Hinata won’t be able to stand a chance. So, Kakashi curses the fates, the deities, and the everything else under the sun and moon for everything that’s currently going wrong as he slams his chidori into the clone Orochimaru has sent to taunt him. Yes, it’s kind of overkill, but Kakashi needs to relieve some of this stress or he’s clearly going to go over the edge. Most than that is that he needs to find the two genin before Orochimaru grows bored of following them to move in for the kill. At some point the game of cat and mouse has to come to an end. Sighing out of frustration, he tries to backtrack a bit, knowing Pakkun will b helping him out to regain the scent trail. 

()()()()()

Meanwhile, a man with wild white hair and blue eyes walks into a village. He seems to walk with purpose. Obtaining the research he needs, he goes to the local tavern to see if he can find his old friend. This is near the current location that Sasuke and Hinata are in. What the two genin fail to know is that the toad Sage is on the trail, finding the Slug Princess without fault. The busty blonde does tend to fall back on old habits such as her gambling problem. Going to the bar, he taps on the shoulder of the woman in question, whirling around to come face to face with Jiraiya himself. Heat rushes to her face, not having seen him in such a long time.

“W-What brings you here?” Tsunade asks, blinking a few times to make sure she’s not having a alcohol inducing dream or something, pinching her arm to realize that she’s fully awake, going to rub the bridge of her nose as she can tell this is serious business he’s here for with the expression being thrown her way. “So, what can I do for you? It’s not every day we cross paths.” 

“Yes, but there’s this kid. He’s extremely ill,” begins the other Sanin, hoping she’ll hear him out.

“I don’t have time to heal any ordinary brat,” hisses out the blonde, growing tiresome with her day to day duties of being a doctor to the sickly.

“It’s not any ordinary one. He’s a jinchurriki,” says Jiraiya softly, glancing around carefully to ensure no one overhears him, whispering these words in her ear.

Her topaz eyes widen ever so slightly in surprise, “Really? Huh, well, that changes things then…. Where?” 

“In Konoha,” replies Jiraiya, not minding dishing out all the details she requires, guessing it’ll take a few days to get there from here. “Bring Shizune with you. I’m sure a highly skilled nurse will be beneficial to Sarutobi’s village.” 

“Grandfather does require my help again it seems,” a small fond smile graces her lips for a moment before it disappears. “Ok, I’ll help, but my assistance doesn’t come cheap.” 

“Yeah, I’m aware of that,” mutters Jiraiya sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “So, what will it be then?” 

“You know how I am. I require yen as payment,” smirks Tsunade before another thought comes to mind. “I also need to see Anko…. You know her, right?” 

“the jounin? Why?” Jiraiya feels curiosity spur up, wondering what this can possibly refer to.

“Well, I need to apologize to her. We have some unfinished business to attend to. Anyway, I’ll meet you back in Konoha in three days tops. If you’re late then the payment goes up to double my usual price. Now, we’ll see each other again soon enough, Jiraiya.” 

_Oh dear Kami what have I signed myself up for again? I kind of forgot how she can be so scary at times…. Well, at least Tsunade doesn’t change a bit._

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie forty-one. I apologize for the long wait. This past weekend I’ve been sick due to an intense reaction to my feline allergies. It felt like a nasty head cold and also had a fever to boot with it. It’s only today that I feel functioning at last. So, that’s my note to explain why there hasn’t been any updates this past weekend._ **

**_Now, as a note, everything past where Kakashi’s little scene in this is all my own doing. It’s from scratch. I have a certain way I like to write characters of course. I hope you’ll enjoy my own spin to things because from here on out it’s all my own from scratch how it continues._ **

**_Anyway, enough of me blathering on for now. I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being written up. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	42. Hawk

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Finally I’m feeling back to normal for the most part. So, like I said last time from the point I had Kakashi’s scene in the last chappie is the point where it begins all my own content from scratch to continue furthering this work. Why? Because I want this to continue of course. It’s a fun story to write. Y’all seem to enjoy reading it too. Also, the story is far from being over of coruse. There’s still a ton of content left to cover. So, we have still a long ways to go before this is even close to being done. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, enough of me blathering on for now. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice comments._ **

**Chapter 42: Hawk**

Meanwhile, back in Konoha, in the medical wing, Naruto twitches on the bed he’s been on. A camel is on his nose to regulate his breathing as a heart monitor beps beside him. There are a tangle of wires connecting him to other machines that are helping to keep him alive. A medic comes in every so often, switching off for another every couple of hours. The demonic chakra pulsates around his body, lashing out if someone grows too close. The curse mark is still apparent. Fighting against it seems almost like a losing battle. Though he doesn’t seem to be falling any further than he already is almost as if Kurama is helping keep him there until Tsunade can be there to mend the damage properly. The medics conclude that he’s a lot cause, but they continue to conduct their duties without fault.

_This kid…. What does everyone see in him?_ Is what all of the medics come to think.

The chair beside the bed is empty. Though who sits in there next is someone no one expects. Hunkering down in it can be seen a white haired man with blue eyes, having one of his toads out. Gazing at the jinchurriki with a mix of concern and owrry, Jiraiya wonders how he’ll make it through alive. Somehow he manages to get here before she does, doubting she’ll get here in time. It does seem that the fox is managing to keep him stable until the Slug Princess arrives. It’s a comforting thought, wondering what Sasuke and Hinata will do now with how the Sanin they’re searching for is already here. Most likely they’ll encounter Orochimaru before being able to scramble their way back in hopefully one piece. It all depends on how it all unfolds.

“Naruto, you might not remember me, but your mother and father appointed me as your godfather. I promise you that you’re not going to die here. No, not now when you still have so much life to live,” murmurs Jiraiya, his voice full of raw emotion while holding back tears that prick at the corners of his eyes, blinking them barely away. 

Not hoping for any response, he stays there by Naruto’s bedside to watch over him. It’ll still take a while for Sasuke to come back, knowing he’ll need to speak to the Uchiha later. There’s much he doesn’t understand. There’s some things that he can never hope to understand. Some things only a fellow jinchurriki can hope to sympathize and empathize with, making him feel glad that at least Naruto has become friends with Gaara even though it may seem unlikely to majority of other people. What he fears is of the Akatsuki, not wanting them to get their hands on any of them. It’s why he thought putting Naruto with the Leaf might be a good idea, but to see him having gone through such torment and sorrow has him regretting his decision. What he hopes is that Kakashi won’t be too pissed off at him when he comes to realize the truth of it all. 

“It’s just a matter of time now…. Tsunade will be here soon to fix you right up, Naruto. Just hang on a little longer, kid.” 

()()()() 

Back with Sasuke and Hinata has them scouring through the current area, having caught wind that Tsunade has begun heading towards Konoha. The two share a look, guessing that she must of been given word by Jiraiya. Sighing in defeat, Sasuke decides that they need to head back now even though they don’t manage to succeed as they hope to. At least the medic is going there instead of not at all. Though what the two genin neglect to take into account is that someone is following them from the shadows. The pair of serpentine eyes continue to watch from afar in the darkness, remaining complacent in the veil while biding his time for when the correct moment will arise to spring into action.

“Do you sense that too?” Whispers Hinata, glancing around nervously to ensure that they’re not receiving any eavesdropping. 

“Hn, yes,” frowns the raven haired male, activating his Sharrigan to take a closer look, bristling at realizing who might be on their trail. “Come, we need to keep moving. Standing around won’t do us any good.” 

“Right,” getting to their feet, Hinata and Sasuke begin to travel back the way they’ve come, remaining on guard in case any pursuers attempt to throw obstacles in their way to prolong the time it’ll take to return.

A few leagues away from the Leaf is where they encounter some trouble. Various snakes come out from the grass, seeming to bar their way from progressing any further. Scowling, Sasuke begins the hand signs for one of his fire techniques while Hinata does her best to use her taijutsu to stun and/or knock out any that try to bite either of them. It appears as if these are merely a distraction of sorts. The individual that’s been spying on them before appears out of the shroud to reveal himself. To see this particular one here doesn’t surprise either of them, knowing either he or someone else might try to capture them for their own nefarious purposes. The only relief is that this isn’t the Akatsuki they’re facing up against.

“Well, well, we meet again, Sasuke…. Oh, you have a companion with you this time…. I see that the little fox is still trying to come to terms with his new stage of life…. Heh, heh, don’t worry, soon you’ll be joining him.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie forty-two. It’s a little short, but I think it works. Plus, I must build up the hype for y’all of course. Hmm, quite a number of scenes come to mind for further chappies. I’m really excited to write more of this. I hope the same can be said about y’all reading it. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being written up. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	43. Crow

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. I apologize if there are any spelling mistakes. I type quickly and have pudgy fingers. So, those are usually my mortal enemy….. Anyway, I hope and think y’all will enjoy where I take this story from here on out. It’ll definitely be fun. Hehes_ **

**_I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice comments._ **

**Chapter 43: Crow**

“Foolish little brother, do you honestly think it will be that easy?” Mutters a velvet smooth voice from the concealment of the shadows, having been tracking along with his partner to locate the Nine Tails.

Widening his eyes in shock, Sasuke never thought that he might return here. The person that he aspires to kill one day is here of all places. Though he doubts that he’s even close to being strong enough to defeat him. The thought of them being after Naruto concerns him, having the desire to protect the blonde no matter what the cost may be. It doesn’t matter to him if he has to put aside petty revenge in the pursuit of protecting those he has given permission to pass through his walls. A chuckle can be caught on the wind, noticing Orochimaru remains there though now there’s also a dark haired man in a cloak with red clouds in the company of someone that resembles a shark that wields a mighty sword. Eyeing those here, Kisame shrugs, not seeing any good prey here to feed his blade any sustaining chakra. 

“What do you want?” Managing this out while trying not to tremble from the rage building up, Sasuke narrows his eyes ever so slightly, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Hinata moves into a defensive position beside him.

“Hmm, well, isn’t that obvious?” Twitching his lips into a small smirk, Itachi gazes at his younger sibling with a brow quirking as if mocking him, furthering to spur his rage to a boiling point. “We plan to continue to the Leaf to capture the Nine Tails. Leader-sama doesn’t appreciate failure.” 

Clencing his fists at his sides, Sasuke isn’t sure what method will be the most effective in this situation. The thought of them after Naruto is urging him to attack while another half of him is telling him that he has itachi right where he wants him. What worries him is how Orochimaru is so close by, not sure what he might do to persuade him to pursue the path that will lead him to the power he seeks to gain. If it’s to save Naruto then he’ll take the risk. Swallowing his anger and pride, he turns his back to his elder brother, knowing it’s not the right time to face off against him. Turning his attention to the Sanin in their midst, he begins to speak, hoping he’s not making a huge mistake he’ll soon regret.

“I’ll hear you out. If there’s any lies then our business is done,” says Sasuke icily.

“Wait, what are-“ Hinata is cut off by him raising a hand, shooting a look over his shoulder at her to trust him.

“If it’s to save Naruto from others after him I’ll do everything I can,” says the Uchiha in a softer tone, placating the Hyuga to a sufficient amount, agreeing that she hopes he knows what he’s doing.

“Now, you’re starting to see some sense…. Good, good, you’ll do nicely,” smirks Orochimaru, having been barely able to perform all of the preparations to perform the mark again. “I give you no lies, Sasuke. This will give you all the power you desire…. It’s enough to keep that beloved fox of yours safe….” 

Hesitating for a moment, Sasuke nods, just wanting to get this done and over with. Still having the smirk plastering on his lips, Orochimaru goes through the procedure to plant it on his neck. When he’s done, Sasuke pants heavily as he has to sit on the ground. Hinata goes to his side, performing light medical assistance from what she’s come to learn so far, sighing in relief when she finds out he’ll be ok. Blinking his eyes a few times, he feels fatigue sweeping over him. There are other sensations although they feel foreign to him. In a blink of the eye has Orochimaru gone from their sights. Though Itachi and Kisame remain. Having been witness to the scene here, his older brother finds curiosity bloom at the reason behind why Sasuke has done this. Doesn’t he know the cost this has towards him? Does he not know what the curse mark will do to him? Sighing in annoyance, he supposes while all he does is try to protect him, knows that there are some things he cannot shield him from. Glancing over at his partner, he gives the signal that they must leave, not wanting to waste any more time than absolutely necessary.

“We’ll meet again, little brother. Don’t forget all I have taught you….all that we have spoken about together….. Remember our promises even when the time comes for you to know the truth.” 

()()()()()

In Konoha, Tsunade arrives, rushing straight to the medic bay where they’re keeping Naruto. Brushing the medics there aside, she goes to work right away. Frowning in concern, she can tell there’s quite a bit of damage here. Her hands glow a soothing pale blue as she heals him, going deep enough with her healing to reconstruct his chakra coil to withstand all of Kurama’s power. Indeed, she’s aware of the beast inside of him, deciding this will be helpful for his endeavors. It takes a day until she’s done, wiping her brow at the last moment when it’s all put to rest. During all that time, Jiraiya remains in the chair beside his bed, waiting to be given any sort of news as to Naruto’s condition.

“What’s the verdict?” Jiraiya asks, unable to hide the nervousness creeping into his voice.

“He’ll live. Give him some time to rest. He’ll most likely wake up in a day or two,” answers Tsunade, accepting the cup Shizune gives her, downing the contents in one single gulp before handing it back, giving a nod of appreciation for the sake. “I’ll check up on him from time to time in case any complications rise up. But he’ll be fine I can assure you.” 

“Good,” he hugs her tightly, catching her off guard though understands why, embracing him back before the two unravel from it to have their arms at their sides. “Thank you. If it weren’t for you then he’d probably be dead.” 

“I know, but don’t worry, ok? He’s going to live. He’ll be just fine,” reassuring him, she can tell that this has been a great toll on him. “You can stay here with him. Call on me if anything comes up.” 

“I will,” promises Jiraiya before the two go their separate ways, giving one last glance back to see Jiraiya going back to the chair by the bedside. 

Nodding, she knows that everything will be ok. Leaving the medical bay, she goes to try finding Anko. There is some unfinished business that needs settling. It takes a while until finding the dark haired woman in her home near the Forest of Death. Knocking once, she then enters to come face to face with the onyx-eyed female in question. Standing as if frozen in her tracks, she gawks at seeing her here of all places. Then again, she recalls that she’s necessary here to heal the jinchurriki. Having her here has a rush of memories come to mind, recalling her of their wedding day all those years ago. To see her here has her wondering why she has come to see her first before anyone else after finishing up at the medical bay to fix Naruto.

“Is everything alright?” Are the first words out of Anko’s mouth, unsure of what else to ask even though they have been apart for several years.

“Yes, I healed him. He’ll be awake in a day or two, but he’s fine again. The curse mark is something I can’t get rid of. He’ll have to become used to it,” shaking her head sadly, Tsunade wishes she can do more for him.

Putting a hand on her shoulder, Anko conveys a semblance of comfort to the blonde, “Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it, ok? You’ve done everything in your power that you can do. That’s what matters the most.” 

Sighing in resignation, she slumps her shoulders before replying, “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” 

“Now, I think I know what you’re here for. C’mon, I can help you relax. Let’s celebrate your return like it’s our honeymoon again.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie forty-three. Hmm, well, this is quite a different turn of events. I thought it might be a better way for it to go. Of course there’s still plenty of angst and all. Though we’ll see how things continue from here on out. I’m sure y’all will still continue to enjoy how this progresses. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, enough of me blathering on for now. I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out whenever I have it finished being written up. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	44. Blossom

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. It’s amazing that this is in the forties chappie wise while in the word count it’s in the one hundreds so far. It’s really pleasing to see how this is progressing along with how this seems to be my most popular story so far. I’m so glad y’all are loving it that much. It means a lot to know when something like this is so well received by such kind people._ **

**_Anyway, let’s get on with the chappie, alright? I doubt y’all want to hear me blathering on for too long after all. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice comments._ **

**Chapter 44: Blossom**

Reaching out, a hand takes hold of another. Eyes blink open to reveal oceanic depths after two days have come to pass. At this point has Hinata and Sasuke coming back to the village. She agrees to go report to the Hokage that the Akatsuki are nearby while he goes to check on Naruto. In the medical bay, he rubs the last dregs out of his eyes while Jiraiya helps him into a sitting position. His vision is still a little blurry though he gets his bearings soon enough anyway. Memories whirl back to him in a flash, recalling all that has gone by thus far up to this exact point. Glancing down, he still sees the mark upon him. It causes panic to rise in his chest, unsure of how to deal with it.

“Hey, hey, relax, kiddo. Nothing is wrong here,” says a deepish masculine voice that calms him, trying to soothe him down from a near panic attack by the looks of it. “Just be glad Tsunade got to you in time. If she hadn’t then you probably might not be here right now. Are you ok? Here, drink some water first.” 

Reaching over to the table nearby, he hands over a full glass of water. Shakily, Naruto accepts it before taking a few swallow of the refreshing icy cold liquid. Putting it back down when he’s done, he realizes where he is. To see Jiraiya here of all places is a shock, not thinking he might be here at this time. It confuses him, unsure of why the timeline is going a different route than what he expects. Although no one can really control the direction the ever shifting tides of time take. Sometimes it leads to those that come to expectations none thought possible to happen. When he has his bearings again, he looks up at the white haired man in awe, having not seen him in a long time.

“There you go… Are you ok? Can you talk?” Jiraiya asks in almost a rapid fire manner, the concern evident on his expression.

“Uh, I think so. I mean I almost died… I don’t know how I can really be ok after that,” admits Naruto sheepishly as he looks around, feeing a new panic take hold of him. “W-Where’s Sasuke? Is the teme here? Is he ok?” 

“Sh, sh, yeah he’s here,” says Jiraiya softly, helping to ease him back down to a grounded state, guessing the blonde is still a little fragile. “Uchiha, you can come in now.” 

“Hn,” grunts the all too familiar voice, having him step in to rush over to his side, grabbing his hands. “Oh thank Kami you’re not dead. I-I….” 

There are words on his tongue that he wants to let free. Though they remain stuck there on his breath, unable to put them to life. The thought of Naruto dying terrifies him down to his very core. How can someone like this shake him so deeply to cause an Uchiha to act so differently versus what everyone expects out of him? Yet, he can’t hold a candle to blame anything nor anyone for the odd occurrence. All he knows is that Naruto is someone precious he wants to protect. Admitting the act he has committed to ensure that safety does weigh heavily upon him. The words he has exchanged with Orochimaru afterwards haunt him too. There’s something he requires of him to tell the Toad Sage. 

“The snake wants to see you,” mutters Sasuke low enough for only Jiraiya to hear. 

“I know. Naruto needs us both now. When I can tell he’s good I’ll step out to take care of my business,” promises Jiraiya, turning his attention back to the jinchurriki. “Well, it seems you’ve given everyone a real scare. Will you be alright?” 

Looking at him then Sasuke has him think about it for a few moments before answering, “Y-Yeah, I think so. Thanks for being here until he came back for me.” 

“Don’t mention it. Anytime,” grins Jiraiya, happier to see him feeling more like himself.

“But I need to admit to you about something,” says Sasuke in a serious manner, not wanting to go back on this after making up his mind.

“Do you want me to leave you two to it?” Asks Jiraiya, brows furrowing ever so slightly with various things on his mind.

“If you don’t mind. Can we get some ramen when I’m out of here?” Questions Naruto hopefully, wanting to spend some quality time with his godfather after such a long time apart from each other.

“Of course. Come find me when you’re ready,” agrees the Sage before disappearing in a poof of smoke, leaving him and Sasuke in the room alone with the door close shut.

A comfortable silence falls between them. Kurama has let him know of what goes on in her dimension, letting the others know of his condition. Sasuke holds Naruto’s hands still within his own. Onyx meets sapphire as they continue to settle within the silence between them. Neither speaks, unsure of how to go about this delicate scenario of sorts they have here. The thought of telling Naruto about this does cause trepidation to spur up, unsure of how he will feel when finding out the truth of what he has done. Naruto does feel curiosity blossom within, perking up at wondering what he needs to inform him about.

“Before Hinata and I came back here we ran into the Akatsuki and Orochimaru,” begins Sasuke to explain, casting away any doubts or anything of that nature, knowing he can trust Naruto with his own life. “Hinata has gone to inform the Hokage about them while I’m here with you. But I-I….well, I had to agree to what Orochimaru wanted to ensure your safety…. I gave him permission to go through with the curse mark. Before you say anything I need to admit something further to you. I realize that no amount of revenge is worth it when it concerns you.” 

When he’s done, Sasuke continues to stare into those watery pools as if they’re graves condemning him to his life sentencing. Though what he sees there takes him aback, not expecting any of it. There are a mix of emotions ranging from surprise to love to adoration and so much more. It’s way more than anything he might ever expect from someone towards him of all people. Though he doesn’t see any hatred, shame, doubt, or anything else negative. It makes him question what Naruto truly thinks about him.

“Sasuke,” begins Naruto to say, moving his hands out of his to cup his face gently. “Nothing you can do will ever make me hate you. You’ve admitted to what you’ve done. All I want is you. Don’t you see that? Have you even seen that you’re the only one that has my attention? Or are you that oblivious that you haven’t caught notice until right now?” 

These brash words catch him off guard before regaining his composure quickly enough, giving a response after a moment of thought, “No, I have known for a while now…. It just took this to make me realize how I truly feel.” 

“One day when we’re both strong enough I’ll go with you. I’ll help you seek the truth your brother has about the massacre,” promises Naruto softly, reaching forward to press his lips gently against Sasuke’s. 

This kiss feels so genuine, full of emotion that blows Sasuke away. Never has he come across someone feeling this way towards him. Wrapping his arms around him carefully, he leans back to respond, giving the kiss back to him with all that he can muster in response. It pleases the blonde greatly, feeling warmth wash over him at finally having him here. In this moment, Naruto encounters love for the first time in his life. Up to this point he has only come across a life of strife and hardship, but now he can say that it’s all been worth it to be here. This is where he belongs amongst those who need him and those that he needs to further tier aspirations, leaning on one another for support, striving towards similar yet different goals to find peace. After a few moments, the two part to regain some oxygen, but they don’t part from gazing into each other’s eyes. They had them close during the kiss though.

“What do you feel now?” Whispers out Naruto, hoping that this might spark something within Sasuke to realize it’s worth keeping those ties to people that matter most to him.

“More than I ever have in my life. Don’t you ever die anytime soon, dobe.” 

()()()()()

“Orochimaru?” Calls out Jiraiya, going to where Sasuke has given mention he’ll be waiting for him.

“Sh, not so loud,” hisses out the dark haired man, glancing around cautiously to ensure the coast is clear before coming out of his hiding place. “Good, I’m glad you’ve come to speak with me. It’s been quite some time, has it not?” 

“Hmph, I guess so,” he shrugs, still curious why he’s gone through everything up to this point. “Do you still plan to destroy this place?’ 

“I’ve given it some consideration. Though from what I can tell it’s not worth it. There’s more worth in conserving the life here to watch them grow…. Plus, I doubt you might find it favorable if I do,” admits the serpentine male with a light chuckle, finding amusement in seeing confusion on Jiraiya’s face.

“What?” Is all he manages to ask, a little uncertain about whether or not to believe him about this.

“it does not matter if you believe me or not, lovely. What does matter is that you continue to follow me. There’s still much to…..research and write if you agree to travel with me,” smirks Orochimaru, extending a hand to him expectantly. 

The offer seems too good to be true, but Jiraiya does know that he’s probably right. Though he can’t wander from Konoha just yet. He has made a promise to Naruto after all. Orochimaru doesn’t intend to leave here just yet either with his daughter nearby. There’s also Tsunade that both of them need to go see later. Eventually, Jiraiya does come to a decision about all of this. It’s not one he’s soon to regret though with what Orochimaru has up his sleeves.

“Ok, but I can’t leave Konoha just yet,” agrees Jiraiya, placing one of his hands within Orochimaru’s, causing electricity to jolt between their fingertips.

“Very well then. I have business to see to here as well. We’ll meet up in the Inn at nightfall.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie forty-four. I hope you all enjoyed. I’m really excited for what plans I have for this. I’m sure you all will love it of course. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being written up. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **

 


	45. Petals

**_Oks, here we are with the next chappie for, Chasms of Sixteen. My, my, there’s quite a number of plans I have for this still. It’ll be interesting for y’all to see what happens from here on out of course. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, let’s get on with it now. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice comments._ **

**Chapter 45: Petals**

Running to the Tower, Hinata pants though keeps going until she’s at the Hokage’s office, delivering her report. Sarutobi eyes the papers carefully, frowning at noting that the Akatsuki is so near to the village. The thought of the Sanin here doesn’t bother him at all considering one of them is his granddaughter of course. Having the Sanin here is a good thing; especially with what he fears may come to shortly pass.

“Thank you for this. We’re glad that you and the Uchiha have come back safely,” says Sarutobi calmly, dismissing her for now as he needs to follow through with preparations.

“Hai,” nods Hinata, scurrying out of there to return to the medical bay, anxious to see Naruto after all this time, catching wind that he’s awake now, guessing the rest of their group will probably be wanting to see him too.

Once there, she goes inside to see Sasuke there by Naruto’s side as per usual. Smiling softly, she’s glad to see he’s alright. Sakura comes to see her, heat rushing to her cheeks of seeing Hinata after so long. Still, she looks so beautiful towards her even now of all times. Noticing that the rose haired kunoichi is staring at her, the heiress whirls around on her heel to come face to face with the woman in question.

“S-Sakura-chan,” stammers ut Hinata, still having her speech impediment from time to time, glancing back to Naruto and Sasuke, guessing that she’ll have time to talk later.

“Sorry if this isn’t a good time,” admits the jade-eyed female, unsure of how to go about this exactly.

“Sasuke, is something wrong? Have you forgotten to tell me something?” Asks the blonde with his brows raising ever so slightly, narrowing his eyes a bit too.

“Well, we have run into the Akatsuki. It was my brother and his partner. They might be nearby still looking for you along with Gaara,” admits the Uchiha, feeling no shame in this admission though.

“I see,” sighs Naruto, guessing that he’ll need to deal with it. “I need to talk to Gaara then. Is he near?” 

“All of our group has come to see you, dobe,” chuckles the raven haired male lightly. “Can you stand?” 

“Yeah,” carefully he gets out of the bed, changing into his clothes quickly, glad to be out of the patient clothes he’s been in while here in the medical bay, going outside on gingerly footsteps, sensing out before locating him. “Gaara?” 

“Hn, that’s my name…. What is it, Uzumaki?” Demands the redheaded male to know, guessing this must be urgent. 

“The Akatsuki are here. Get the others. We need to talk in the place…. You know the one of course. I’ll bring Sasuke and the rest. They need to know everything, but we don’t have much time to talk. We’ll need to be quick about this.” 

()()()()()

“What’s so special about getting this brat?” Asks the gruff voice of Kisame, growing bored with having to bide their time.

“The Nine Tails is the most powerful jinchurriki. He holds the kitsune princess after all. Madara has given permission for us to have the liberty to go after him by ourselves,” answers Itachi simply as if it’s common sense. “Don’t be like that now, alright? You know I will reward you when we’re done here.” 

“Hmph, you better,” grumbles Kisame with a certain look in his Beaty fish eyes, knowing Itachi promises some alone time later if they succeed in their task. “isn’t the sandman here too?” 

“Hn, but we’re only here for Naruto. It’s Sasori’s and Deidara’s mission to get the Kazekage’s son,” confirms itachi, not minding to have to remind his partner from time to time.

“I see,” is all he can say in response, one hand remaining on the hilt of his blade while he shifts on his feet from time to time, itching to leave their position to slash their way to find the blonde instead of waiting around here any longer.

“Have some patience and faith, Kisame. My plan won’t fail us. We’ll have him right where we want him after all. Besides, I know if we threaten him with what he desires and holds most precious then he will listen.” 

()()()()

Back with Naruto and the others, he opens the passageway back at his home, allowing Sasuke and the others through. On the way to Kurama’s pocket dimension, he gives a quick rundown of everything. It leaves them in a daze with all of this new information although they seem to understand the brevity of it all. What Sasuke cares about the most is Naruto’s safety of course. If keeping his secrets under lock and key is what he needs to do then he’ll do it. Besides, Naruto has done the same for him during all this time. Sakura is still a little struck with confusion though understands well enough. Hinata nods, understanding how some things need to remain hidden. Though it’s a privilege for those he deems fit enough such as them to know, appreciating the fact that he trusts them all so much. Those with him are the two other teammates of Team Seven, Team Eight, Team Ten, and Gaara. When they reach the dimension, Naruto unlocks it for them to follow him inside. The passageway out closes shut and locks behind them. Only the blonde can unlock it when it’s time for them to leave. This place is heavily laden with wards and such to protect it from any intruders. The only ones that can come in here are those that have Kurama’s seal which means only he can enter in the company of those with him. Leading everyone into the meeting room, he notices that Zabuza and Haku are already there along with Kin. Everyone goes to empty seats to occupy while Naruto goes to one himself.

“Well, this is a rare sight to see. Rarely has it ever been a full cast here,” says a feminine voice, revealing the vulpine figure of the vixen in her humanoid form, donning in a formal dress with fishnet underneath along with a pair of fingerless gloves while her weaponry remains on her person, having her luxurious dark red locks in a high ponytail as her fox ears twitch every so often while her multitude of tails swish back and forth absently. “Ah, my apologies I suppose…. The newcomers here don’t know me, do they kit? I’m Kurama, the Nine Tailed Fox, and the Crown Princess of the Kitsunes. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. You’re welcome to stay here in my home, but don’t break anything.” 

“This is her palace?” Asks Hinata in awe, seeing Kurama in all her glory. “She looks so beautiful.” 

“Don’t give her too much credit. It might go to her head,” jokes Naruto, receiving an icy glare from the kitsune.

“Watch your tongue, brat. You’re very kind, heiress. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine,” a slight smile graces her lips, feeling she needs to stay here with how her host is still recovering from everything.

“Why are we here though?” The others want to know.

“Because I feel you all deserve to know why I have certain shinobi in my ranks. This is our organization called Sunset Shadows or something of the like. My mind is still a little hazy so I can be wrong about the phrasing of it all. We’re here to put a stop to the Akatsuki that are after people like Gaara, Kin, and myself, but there are other organizations out there too. There’s one that go after people with bloodlines while there’s also a third that will kill both of our kin as if they feel like they’re purging some disease from the Five Nations. You don’t have to pledge yourselves to our cause just yet until you’re absolutely sure about it,” explains Naruto hastily, not wanting to waste too much time with explaining all of the fine details right off the bat.

“You know I’m going to agree. Like hell am I leaving your side,” says Sasuke without an ounce of hesitation, having a new fuel to further himself along. “Besides, we both have the same curse to bear. I feel it best to stay together too.” 

“I love you too,” smiles Naruto sweetly at him before turning to the others to see what their decisions might be.

“I’m sticking with Sasuke on this,” agrees Hinata, looking to Sakura hopefully.

“Cha, I’ll go wherever Hina-hime does,” admits the rosette simply.

The others chorus in murmurs of agreement. Blinking a few times in surprise, Naruto hasn’t thought it might go better than he previously thought it might. Though the good news is pleasing to see and hear nonetheless. Handing back the communication devices, he thinks it’ll be safe using these again. He’s not sure as to who else they might be able to convert onto their side. There are a few candidates he has thought about. Turning to Gaara, he has a request to ask of him.

“Spit it out already,” hisses the sandman, having grains of the ruby substance whirling around him ever so slightly.

“Can you try seeing if your siblings might join us?” Asks Naruto tentatively. 

Giving this some thought, Gaara snorts lightly, “They follow me. Yes, it’ll be fine. Have you given any thought of anyone else?” 

“Maybe not right now. It’s still a little dangerous to ask any jounin or anyone higher up the rank to our side. We’re better off asking missing ninja,” admits the blonde thoughtfully. “Thanks though. I’m sure Temari and Kankuro will be excellent additions.” 

“Are we done here then?” Voices Zabuza, idly been listening in to the whole conversation.

“Well, I think Naruto-kun has done all of his business,” shrugs Haku.

“Yeah, I think so,” nods Naruto, demising the entire meeting. “We’ll be in touch though. C’mon, guys, let’s return before anyone starts asking where we’ve gone off to.” 

With those parting words, everyone goes their separate ways. Zabuza and Haku stay in Kurama’s world, having their individual tasks to complete. Though all of Rookie Nine go with Naruto to return to Konoha. Once there, everyone goes their separate ways. Sasuke, Hinata, and Sakura stay with Naruto. Turning to the kunoichi of their group, he has a suggestion to make for her.

“Hey, I think you need to go seek out Granny Tsunade. She can train you to become a great medic ninja. Perhaps you might even become her successor,” winks Naruto before turning back to the others. “You’ll do well to continue your training, Hinata. I’ve seen your progress with your fight with Tenten. You’ve blossomed so wonderfully. I’m proud of you.” 

This praise is new to her. Cheeks flushing a bit, she smiles in appreciation of it all. Looking at Sakura, she wonders if she can go with her. There’s something she wants to talk to her about. During her travels with Sasuke has have him help her realize what her feelings are. For the longest time she thought she’s had a crush on Naruto, but that’s quite the contrary. What she’s actually been having a crush on has been her of all people. Glancing back to the two shinobi, she bows before going off to join Sakura on her walk.

“We’ll meet up with you two later,” promises Sakura as she continues to walk though now alongside the raven haired kunoichi. 

The two continue their travels in a comfortable silence. When they reach halfway towards their destination of finding the Slug Princess, Hinata stops to whirl around to face Sakura. The two are mere inches apart from one another, causing jade to meet lilac. What she sees there is a mix of emotion ranging from love to adoration to so much more. There’s nothing negative within her gaze. When it comes to Hinata has her wonder how she can be so kind when people have always been hard on her throughout all of her life. The same can be said about Sakura too, knowing people have been harsh towards her as well. What Hinata can see in her gaze is the same replication within her own, smiling ever so softly at the sight before her. Reaching out, she cups one of her cheeks in her hand before leaning forward to press her lips against hers. Sakura’s eyes widen ever so slightly in surprise, but then her expression immediately softens before returning the kiss back to her. A few minutes pass by before the two part to regain their breath.

“I’ve wanted to do t-that for a l-long time,” admits Hinata while her cheeks are still a little flush. “W-What do you think?”

“I think you’re a strong, beautiful, and intelligent kunoichi. You’re an heiress, but that changes nothing. I’ve been wanting to do that too for a while now,” agrees Sakura, speaking in a gentle tone as she wraps her arms around her to hold her close.

“Thank you. You are too. I know people have been tough towards you, but you’re strong and thoughtful to protect those you love and care about,” says Hinata, carrying her words with the utmost warmth.

“So are you. It’s a few of the multiple things I love about you, Hinata. Never ever change no matter what anyone says.” 

“I love you too. Same with you. Don’t change and always stay the stubborn Haruno I know.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie forty-five. I thought this has the perfect blend of some angst and adorableness. Plus, I wanted to affirm the relationship between Sakura and Hinata due to how I’ve done the same for Sasuke and Naruto in the previous chappie. So, there’s oh so much left to write for this though. I’m still glad I can update this fairly often even though it does take me time to write up these chappies of course. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being written up. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	46. Butterflies

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. So, I plan for whatever day I work on for updates for this that I update it at least three times that day. It’s just how I’ve been doing it thus far. I figure it best to keep it up that way as long as I can possibly of course. I’m sure y’all will enjoy what’ll happen this time with what I have planned in mind. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy. Please remember to subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice comments. I sincerely appreciate all of the kindness given to this with what y’all post. It means a lot and helps me to feel motivation to continue._ **

**Chapter 46: Butterflies**

A few days pass by with little to no events going on. It seems that the Akatsuki are lying low, remaining undetectable by even the AMBU of all people. Finding no other point to the search, the Hokage announces that the Chunin Exams will continue now. There are still the next series of fights to commence. Though what Sarutobi doesn’t expect is for Tsunade to bring up an alternative method than have the senseless beating of the exams themselves. While it is a good test of strength and all is that sometimes it does lead to death. Having word with his granddaughter, he does see sense in this.

“Is there something else you suggest than what we’ve always done here?” Sarutobi asks curiously, deciding to appease her instead of encouraging the wrath that she tends to have from time to time.

“Yes, have them split up into two teams. Then they’ll need to go through the Forest of Death again, but this time will be different. They won’t go after scrolls, but the headbands that will appoint them as Chunin,” explains Tsunade, not wanting to have to heal Naruto again after how he sustained so much damage before. “It’ll still be a test of their strength, but it’ll also show how well their teamwork skills are.” 

Giving this some thought, Sarutobi then announces to the genin that are waiting to be given word of what’ll happen next, “Well, Tsunade has given a good case to change the last part of this. You will branch off into two groups. The two teams will go into the forest of Death to search for the headbands that will appoint you as honorary Chunin. You have two weeks to complete this task.” 

With those last words, he poofs off in a wist of smoke. Tsunade is still there, sighing in annoyance of guessing it’s her job to give the teams. It’s something she guesses since she’ll be taking over Hokage duties whenever Sarutobi passes away. The first team has Shikamaru, Gaara, Naruto, and Sasuke on it. The second team has Hinata, Shino, Kin, and Lee on it. Being given their time starting from tomorrow gives them today to prepare and pack all that they’ll need. Everyone goes their separate ways. Though some go off in pairs of two. Sakura goes to meet up with Hinata, hoping to have her for moral support when she goes to meet with Tsunade to ask to become her pupil.

“O-Of course I-I can go with you,” agrees the heiress, following her off to find the blonde in question.

“Thanks,” smiles Sakura gratefully, eventually finding Tsunade after several minutes, hoping this won’t cut into any preparation time that Hinata needs.

“What?” Tsunade asks when she sees two genin approach her, having been at a table drinking some sake, being in the company of her assistant and her wife.

“I want to ask to become your student,” says Sakura bluntly, deciding the direct approach will appeal her the most.

Quirking a brow, she examines the rosette carefully, giving it ample thought before giving her ultimatum, “Fine, you can become my student I suppose. It’s been ages from last I even have had one. Though this is on one condition.” 

“What is it, Tsunade-sensei?” Sakura asks, wanting to know the fine details before starting her training with a Sanin.

“You have to follow everything I say by the book. This isn’t going to be any normal training you’ve had up to this point,” she warns, wanting her to realize the gravity of the situation she’s putting herself in.

“Hai, I understand,” says Sakura in response, not having any hesitation about this. “When will we start?” 

“Tomorrow morning. Meet me at the base of the Hokage Tower at nine o’clock. Don’t be late,” are her parting words before allowing her to dismiss, giving a small smile at sensing the potential that Sakura has, deciding that she will let it loose to have her blossom into the kunoichi she deserves to be.

Bowing in gratitude, she scurries off to rejoin with Hinata. The two embrace shortly before parting, smiling at each other warmly. Both seem to be going places that’ll lead them to where they need and want to be. It’s almost like a dream come true. Going off arm in arm, Sakura agrees to help Hinata with her preparations. It’ll allow for some more one on one time with the Hyuga to become better acquainted with her after all. Though they’ll only have until tomorrow to spend time together. Both have places to be of course. Until then they’ll enjoy the time they have within each other’s company.

()()()()

“At least we’re on the same team,” points out Naruto, walking alongside Sasuke down a path to the Uchiha compound though stops when Sasuke does a few paces before then, noticing he turns to face him. “Um, is something wrong?” 

“No, but I want you to move in with me. Your place right now isn’t safe,” replies the raven haired male without a hint of warning or anything, leaving no room for argument. “Gather all your stuff from there. I’ll have supper ready when you’re back.” 

“O-Ok,” rubbing the back of his neck nervously, he disappears in a poof of smoke to reappear in his apartment, gathering all of his belongings before poofing away again to reappear within the Uchiha compound.

This does feel like it’s all happening in a blur. Sometimes he wonders if he’s dreaming or something. Though Kurama reassures him that he’s not, knowing to trust her word better than any human’s. Well, some humans he can trust like Sasuke and others within their group. There are only a handful of people outside of it that he thinks he can trust well enough. To be here on Sasuke’s invitation does feel almost surreal. Though he understands if he’s wanting him here for that purpose it must be for a valid reason. Putting his stuff down that’s inside of a large duffle bag, he doesn’t know where he’ll be sleeping. There’s a delicate aroma that hits his nostrils, wondering what Sasuke might be cooking. How has he come to know how to cook in the first place? This along with other questions mill about in his mind, doubting he’ll find any answers anytime soon. Walking further inside of the mansion, he goes into the kitchen. Seeing Sasuke’s back, he can tell that he’s concentrating on what’s on the stovetop. It seems that the kitchen along with everything else here remains fully stocked. The place is lavishly furnished even though the colors are of dark purple, blue, and black along with some ruby thrown in the mix. The blend works well for this place though.

“Teme?” Pipes up the blonde, catching Sasuke’s attention almost immediately. 

“Hn?” Asks the Uchiha in question in response, stirring the large pot there that’s exuding the delicious aroma he smelled earlier on his way in.

“I got all my stuff. Where do you want me to put my bag?” Naruto asks, feeling a little apprehension about all of this although he appreciates the fact of living here to be closer to him. 

“My room,” answers Sasuke without turning to face him. “Go put it in there. When you come back I’ll have this in bowls for us.” 

“Alright then,” obliges Naruto, leaving the kitchen to grab his bag, walking down the long corridors to locate Sasuke’s room, putting his bag in there when he eventually finds it to then go into the living room once that task is done.

Back in here, he sits down on the sofa. It’s an L-shaped one that goes along the wall. There are lamps here and there that illuminate the rooms although there’s also candles at the ready to use as well. When Sasuke enters, he carries a tray with him. Having turned off the stove, he hopes this meal will suffice. Putting the tray down on the table in front of the sofa, he goes to sit right down beside the blonde. The meal he’s crafted for them is ramen with vegetables and beef. There’s also some dango there for afterwards. What they have to drink is some iced green mochi tea.

“Is this good enough?” Asks Sasuke, having his walls drop almost at once around Naruto, showing things he never shows anyone although oddly enough he does trust the jinchurriki, feeling as if he deserves to know what he feels at this point.

“Of course,” reassures Naruto, happy that he decides to make ramen for him instead of something else for their first official meal together to celebrate moving in with him here. “You’re always good enough for me, Sasuke.” 

“Good, I better be,” he grumbles although Naruto laughs a little at how he can tell there’s a slight hint of joking about it. 

“You seem a lot better now,” admits Naruto softly when he sobers up, accepting his bowl and chopsticks as he begins eating. “Damn, this is so flavorful. I never thought you might be able to cook.” 

“You’ll be surprised at what you don’t know about me, dobe. I’m glad to have you here with me. Ever since Itachi killed all of my family I’ve been alone. But with you here I feel as if I’m not lonely anymore.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie forty-six. I apologize for the wait. I’ve been working on some other stuff. I do need to take breaks here and there. Though I always seem to return back to working on this no matter what I do. It’s a good thing of course._ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being written up. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **

 


	47. Leap

**_Hey y'all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. It's quite pleasing as to how much people are enjoying this so far. Obviously there will be some chappies where there's slice of life going on aside from action. It's just how things go really. Plus, I want this to go at a good pace. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice comments._ **

**Chapter 47: Leap**

The day comes and goes, having dusk descend shortly after the last rays of the sun descend beneath the horizon. Night falls shortly after, casting the entire lands within the blanket of darkness. Soon, the moon comes out along with the diamonds in the sky. They always seem so beautiful to Naruto, glancing over at Sasuke when they're done with their meal and chat. Noticing the look being thrown his way, he gives a slight ghost of a smile before nodding, agreeing to go watch the stars with him. The two exit the mansion to go onto the rooftop to watch them. It's the place where Naruto is usually to see them, liking this place the most. To share this with him feels like the greatest euphoria he can have.

"Thanks," murmurs the blonde softly while looking up at the skies.

"for what?" Asks Sasuke in response, not sure what he's done to receive such gratitude from him.

"Everything really I suppose. You're the first person to give me a chance," smiling slightly, he has a well of sorrow within those cerulean deaths that pulls at the Uchiha's heartstrings, wanting to get rid of such sadness within him.

Reaching over, he grabs his hand within one of his own, "Think nothing of it, dobe. We're partners after all, right?"

"Right," confirms Naruto, seeing his face brighten up at this, having the sorrow almost immediately wiped out. "I don't remember any other time I've felt this happy before."

"The feeling is mutual. I'm going against everything I've been taught an Uchiha is meant to be. I've let someone in and shown emotions," admits Sasuke though he has a certain fondness when he looks at the blonde. "I probably am the one that needs to be thanking you. If it weren't for you I'd probably still be dead inside."

Squeezing his hand lightly, Naruto gives his usual fox grin, "That's what I'm here for. Someone has to bring you back to life after all."

"Heh, right," chuckling lightly, he does agree about this, sometimes wondering what the blonde truly is and how he's been having such an immense effect on him even though he supposes that Naruto has an effect on everyone he comes across.

The two spend the majority of the night out there star gazing. When they become drowsy is their time to head back inside. Going into Sasuke's room, he notices the bed has onyx colored sheets on it with a white plain sheet underneath the top one. The comforter is also black too. It doesn't bother him though. Stripping down to his boxers, he slips underneath the covers. The bed is large enough for two people to sleep in comfortably enough. Sasuke does the same, having Naruto avert his eyes similarly to what he's done. When he's down to his briefs, he slips in beside the blonde. Pulling the covers over them, he wraps an arm around Naruto to hold him close before the two fall asleep in each other's arms. It isn't until the first rays of dawn peek in through the curtains that the two wake. Naruto is the first to do so, noticing the position they're in though he feels beyond happy of this happening. At least he's done what he's set here to do, having rewritten the course of time itself to save not only Sasuke, but Konoha as well from the previous fate. Everything seems to be going according to plan. All they have to really worry about is the Akatsuki along with those other two organizations. Getting out gingerly from Sasuke's grasp, he goes to wash up and get dressed for the day ahead. They'll need to arrive at the Forest of Death in a couple of hours. It doesn't take long until Sasuke wakes as well, doing the same as he washes up and dresses for the day. When the two finish up, they gather their necessary weaponry and such they feel they'll need for the last stretch of the Chunin Exams. When they feel ready enough, they have two hours left to their disposal. Deciding to make some breakfast for them, Sasuke goes into the kitchen to prepare it. Naruto stays nearby to watch over how he does it.

"What are you making?" Asks Naruto curiously, never having had someone cook for him until now.

"Pancakes I suppose with some bacon and eggs. I fugue we'll need the carbs," shrugs Sasuke, deciding to make it a special occasion again as it'll be a while until next they can be back here until they're done with the last bit of the exams. "What do you want in them?"

"I've never had pancakes before," admits Naruto wistfully. "What do you like?"

"Strawberries," admits the onyx-eyed male, liking the juiciness and flavor of the fruit. "It'll be good for both of us too."

"Sounds good then," obliges Naruto, thinking it might be good for him to try some new things even though he's a little hesitant about it.

"Hn, have some trust in me," huffs Sasuke, finishing up making the meal before dishing out portions to plates, giving one to Naruto. "Come, we'll eat out on the patio."

"Ok," agreeing with him, Naruto follows out to it, sitting down on the stone tiles in a crouching position, using a fork to eat gingerly, almost mouthwatering good with the variety of flavors dancing on his tastebuds. "Damn, you cook delicious stuff, teme."

"Of course I do," being a little smug about it, Sasuke thinks he can get used to receiving praise from someone often enough, liking it to ensure that he's doing a good job at this.

The two eat their meal in relative silence. Companionship and passion within their relationship makes it easy to be at ease even when there's nothing to say. When the two finish their meals about fifteen to twenty minutes later, Naruto takes the dishes into the house to see to cleaning up. One of the rules Sasuke has at the Uchiha compound is if someone cooks then the other cleans up. That's just how it works here. When the two finish up, they have about an hour and a half until the exams begin. The two finish their preparations quickly before walking to the destination. The meeting spot isn't difficult to find. Once there, they see that Gaara is there waiting for them. The others aren't there yet. Sighing in relief, he has been hoping to catch some time to talk to his fellow jinchurriki.

"Uzumaki, it's good to see you back in action," says Gaara, having a little more life than usual in his seafoam green eyes, having been waiting for the rest of his team to arrive.

""Thanks," grins the blonde in question, glad to be back on his feet at last. "It's all because of Granny Tsunade of course."

"Hn," agrees Sasuke, surveying the area a little to ensure that they're not having any eavesdroppers nearby.

"You worry too much," scowls Naruto at noticing what he's doing.

"It's necessary," scowling back at him, he goes back to keeping up his guard just in case.

"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about," says Naruto as he changes the subject, deciding that the Uchiha will be listening in while he converses with Gaara all the while they wait for the others to arrive. "The Akatsuki are nearby in search of both of us."

"What? Why the hell haven't you let me know sooner?" Snaps Gaara, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly at being given this information. "They might try to ambush us while in there."

"it's something we'll need to keep in mind," murmurs Sasuke in agreement, listening in on the conversation. "Sh for now on it. The others are arriving. We'll be going in there soon enough."

"Right," the two jinchurriki agree, knowing the fun is just about to start.

It doesn't take long until the other members of their team show up. Having Shino is a pretty good lot in life. His bugs will be good for tracking along with other purposes. The members of the other team don't take long to show up too. Hinata nods towards Naruto and Sasuke, knowing she'll do her best in this. Eventually, the proctor arrives as well. It seems to be Anko again, seeing that the members of both teams have come there on time. It pleases her to an extent, wondering if these guys are really up to snuff for this. Though it's not in her place to make comments about it. Seeing that everyone is accountable for, she begins her spiel before letting them loose on inside of there. Their objective is within two weeks they have to find the scroll containing the headbands to appoint them as honorary Chunin, marking them for their prowess of moving up in the ranks.

"What's the plan?" Gaara, Shino, and Sasuke turn their attention to the blonde of their group, figuring he has it all sorted out.

"The other team will probably go a different direction. Let's head east first," suggests Naruto, thinking quick on his feet as he heads off in that direction with the other three shinobi following suit after him.

They walk for what seems like several hours. The silence hangs thick in the air. The only sounds that can be heard aside from their footsteps and breathing are the birds and insects of the forest. There's an occasional slither of a serpent and/or the hop of a toad. It doesn't surprise anyone that Sanin might be watching on them to check on how they're doing so far. Though it's only been a few hours it seems, not even having it been a day yet. Sighing, Naruto expects as much, continuing on his way with his teammates until they take a break in a clearing a good distance away from the starting position. Each of them sit down underneath one of the trees with their large leaves overhanging to provide comfort from the beaming sunlight. Each of them take out some rations, not sparing much talk as of yet due to still ascertaining their current situation. They still aren't anywhere near close to finding one of the many scrolls hidden here.

"Are you sure two weeks is enough?" Shino voices the question on all of their minds.

"Perhaps," shrugs Gaara, having wisps of sand rise up around him, taking a bite out of a rice ball. "But I honestly don't give a damn. We'll get this done even though it does seem a waste of my time."

"I know," saying this comfortingly, Naruto does get how it can feel like wasting time. "But sometimes that's a good thing."

"Hmph, if you say so," shrugs Gaara, deciding to take a grain of truth with this.

"Well, it's better than nothing," grumbles Sasuke, remaining close to the blonde as he keeps watch, knowing they'll switch off every six hours who remains on watch duty. "The timeframe is short, but we'll get this done in a week and a half. Isn't that right, dobe?"

"Believe it," fox grins Naruto in response, finding his well of energy back in full swing, knowing he'll need to think further on his feet with protecting these guys, having come across the sense of odd chakra signatures here.

"You've come to notice it too," states the redheaded male, having caught wind of the oddity as well, finding it strange that such signatures might be here of all places. "Any ideas, Uzumaki?"

Furrowing his brows, he gives it some thought before posing his suggestion, "Well, the Akatsuki members are after us. It won't surprise me if somehow they're here looking for us. It's best to mask our signatures from here on out."

"Hn," grunts Gaara in confirmation, having him along with the other two to do just that, successfully doing it with some trouble as Naruto does it too. "Happy now?"

"I suppose," shrugs Naruto, frowning at wondering what his problem is. "No need to be a grumpy jellyfish with me though."

"i make no promises," glowers Gaara, not liking to be given such a ridiculous nickname although he doesn't voice his complaints about it.

Snorting lightly, Sasuke finds amusement by the name Naruto gives him. It's kind of adorable when he thinks about it. Leaning against the trunk of a tree next to Naruto, he wraps an arm around him to hold him close. It's almost tranquil somewhat here despite the circumstances of this. When their respite is done has the four standing to leave to continue traversing through the forest. It doesn't take long until they find a wooden chest. There seems to be individuals hiding in the sodas that lie in wait to pounce on anyone that draws near to it. The four shinobi share looks, thinking the same thing that the scroll they're searching for must be inside of it. Tentatively, Shino takes a step as he sends out some of his bugs to scout, receiving the report quickly enough as he relays the information to his teammates. It seems that there are two AMBU ninja that are guarding it. It'll require some teamwork in order to defeat them along with securing the contents of the chest. The quartet decide that Gaara and Sasuke will have the chance to combat them while Naruto and Shino try to retrieve what lies inside of the wooden structure. With this plan in mind, the one tailed jinchurriki and Uchiha set out to engage in able with the AMBu set here in place to thwart their attempt of easily obtaining what they're after.

_Well, it' a start I guess. I doubt this is going to be a walk in the park though. Let's just hope we can make it through this with little to no complications._

**_Oks, that's the end of chappie forty-seven. I hope you all enjoyed. The next one will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being written up. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	48. Descent

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Eep, I’m so excited that I’m almost over fifty chappies for something. I’ve never had that happen before to be honest. I sincerely appreciate all of the support and patience y’all given for me with this story along with my other works. It really does help and mean a lot._ **

**_Anyway, enough of me blathering on for now. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice comments._ **

**Chapter 48: Descent**

While Naruto’s team go after obtaining the goal, Hinata’s team are still searching for theirs. The heiress does miss Sakura, knowing she’ll be able to see her girlfriend again when this is done. It makes her wonder how her training is going so far. The other people on her team are those she’s uncertain of. She has Kin, Lee, and Shikamaru. Though she’s unsure about the Nara being on the team originally or not. It might be that one of the team members has been switched out before starting due to whatever reasons the proctor has. It doesn’t bother her in the slightest though. Lee and Shikamaru are those she trusts although she’s not too certain about Kin. Having a Sound ninja on their team is different, but she is part of Naruto’s organization after all. Surely she can’t be all that bad, right? 

“What’s the plan?” Kin asks, unsure of who the leader of their team is.

Studying their options, Shikamaru speaks up, “We need to go north of the gates here. That one isn’t heavily watched. We can survey the AMBU there and go in for the scroll when they’re off the clock.” 

“Sounds good,” murmurs Hinata in agreement of this plan.

“Hai, with the power of youth we’ll be able to get this done in no time,” enthuses Lee, excitement rolling off of him in waves as he looks forward to showing his progress in his training.

Giving a light smile, Hinata admires how energetic he is. It reminds her of how Kiba can be at times. The four of them head out from the entrance. Going north, they come upon no resistance so far. It worries them all, wondering what type of opposition there will be. The thought of AMBU doesn’t worry any of them, having thought that’s what they might come across in here. Though the strange chakra signatures they’re feeling sets them all on edge. None of them know where these originate from. What they can tell is that it’s from powerful individuals, deciding that if they go to the west or south then they’ll encounter stronger individuals they may not be ready to face up against quite yet. Continuing on their travels, they keep going until they find a clearing to take a break in. All of them go to separate corners, having a snack of varying rations. Their respite doesn’t last long. They spend about fifteen to forty minutes there, getting up when they’re all done. Continuing on their way, the group goes until they find a wooden chest standing to a far corner. There are some ninja in the shadows guarding it, but they seem to take turns as to who’s watching and who’s sleeping. At varying times there’s no one on watch. Shikamaru surveys closely out of sight, watching the routine of them. When the time is right, he goes in to open the chest, swiping the scrolls inside before replacing them with blank copies. Closing it quietly back shut, he has it look as if nothing has gone to pass. Hurrying back to the others, they go on their way to a safe distance from there. Those on guard won’t notice anything has gone by, figuring that the chest still requires them to guard it. What worries Shikamaru is how it seems too good to be true. Although he supposes that he might of come across a slip up on his calculations. Fortunately, it doesn’t by what it seems like, continuing on with his group until they return to the entrance. This takes about a week to get from where they’ve been in the northern area of the forest all the way back to the entrance where they began all that time ago. It doesn’t seem as if Naruto’s team has come back yet. The four remain there, waiting in anticipation for when the others will return. It does begin to ebb into anxious waiting, having Hinata pace back and forth. Eventually, half another week passes by until the other group arrives to join up with them. At the sight of them relaxes Kin and Hinata significantly. The proctor appears when they are all there, accepting the scrolls they manage to gather. Opening them, Anko brings out the new headbands for them.

“Well, well, you’ve done better than any of us thought. So, I guess you all are Chunin,” announces the dark haired woman, giving each of the eight genin their Chunin headbands to switch out into. “Job well done all of you. Now, you have time to yourselves until you’ll have a new mission in your teams. Your jounin sensei’s will let you know when the time is right.” 

“Hai,” they all say in unison before dispersing their separate ways. 

Turning his attention to Naruto, Gaara catches his attention. The two nod, knowing that the threats against them and the others in their group are far from being anywhere near over. They return to their homes, hoping to gain some necessary relaxation and rest time. Returning to the Uchiha compound, Naruto walks in after Sasuke unlocks the door. The two make a quick meal, sharing it between them. It’s only two hours after sunset it seems. They finish the meal, deciding to watch something while having some hot tea to soothe their tiresome minds. The thought of soaking in a bath does also come to both of their minds, deciding to do that later if they remember. Going to the living room, the two hunker down on the sofa. Naruto snuggles into Sasuke’s side, feeling him drape an arm around him. Turning on the television, he flips through channels until finding something they can both agree on.

“This is nice,” murmurs the raven haired male after a while, having the silence full of the movie they’re currently watching which is some romance set in the feudal era of Japan.

“Mmm, yes, it is,” concedes Naruto, liking the warmth radiating off of the Uchiha, glad that they have this bond between them.

“We’ll turn in early tonight. There’s something I want to show you tomorrow.” 

()()()() 

Instead of returning to the Hyuga compound, Hinata goes to find Sakura immediately. The thought of the rose haired female brings various sentimental thoughts come to mind. Though she’s also curious to know how her first two weeks under Tsunade’s training has gone so far. Eventually, she finds her stepping out of her parents home with a duffle bag slung over one shoulder. Frowning, she wonders what might be going on. Hastily, she walks up in front of her, laying a gentle hand on one of her shoulders.

“H-hey, what’s going on?” Pipes up the heiress, not wanting to push her too much depending on what the situation might be.

“My parents kicked me out when they found out I’m still spending time with Naruto and the rest of you guys,” answers Sakura sadly, noticing her eyes are a little reddened from crying earlier.

“W-What? Come on, you can come l-live with m-me if you want. There’s p-plenty of room in the compound,” offers Hinata, giving her a kind smile to relieve any tension from her weary mind.

“Are you sure?” Asks Sakura warily, appreciating the kindness given to her although she doesn’t want to intrude.

“O-Of course,” still giving her kind smile, Hinata moves to grab one of her hands, leading the way back to her home. 

Once there, Hinata helps Sakura move her stuff into her room. She thought maybe Sakura will like being with her instead of an empty room. When they’re done putting her stuff away in a spare dresser, Hinata guides her into the kitchen to heat up some leftovers while putting the kettle on to make some tea for them both. It seems that Sakura’s mood has improved quite a bit. Being here does have a peaceful air to it. From what she can tell is where Hinata lives is away from everyone else, guessing it’s to be away from how the rest of the clan treats her so poorly. With this situation can benefit both of them, leaning on each other for support in tough times. When the food finishes heating up, she puts it onto two plates while putting the tea into two china cups. Stirring an ample amount of honey along with a little sugar, she takes the items onto a tray into the living room she has. It helps being away from everyone else in the Hyuga clan because it feels like her own space here. Sitting down beside Hinata, Sakura gives a grateful smile, appreciating all of what she’s doing for her here. The two dine in companionable silence. It doesn’t last too long until Sakura breaks it to strike up some conversation. 

“The training is hard, but I’m learning a lot. Tsunade is a great sensei,” says the jade-eyed kunoichi.

“That’s amazing,” beams Hinata, feeling glad that she’s enjoying it so far. “I’m a Chunin now.” 

“Then we both need to celebrate,” grins Sakura, raising her cup in a toast, having Hinata to clink glasses with her before taking a tentative sip of the hot beverage though both smile warmly to one another. 

_Being here….with Hinata….like this makes me feel so happy. I never thought I might be like this at all. But she’s been able to help me become a better person and kunoichi every day. I hope that I can do everything possible to protect her through all the hurdles life throws us._

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie forty-eight. I apologize if it’s a little short, but I at least managed to update again today. My update schedule has changed due to having more time on my hands. So, now I update on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. This was actually my old update schedule until I moved to only Saturdays. it’s good to be back to it though. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed what happened this time. I’m really excited to work on more of this and my other works; especially with what I have planned in mind. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being written up. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	49. Spire

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. Well, I have given it some thought as to the progression from this point onwards. I plan on Naruto going to train with Jiraiya and Sasuke with Orochimaru starting on the next chappie after this one. After that will be a time skip to when they’re sixteen-years-old. I hope this plan sounds good with y’all. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, subscribe, drop some kudos, and leave some nice comments._ **

**Chapter 49: Spire**

“Why aren’t we acting yet?” Asks Kisame to his partner, finding it annoying having to keep waiting so long.

“Because we have to wait for leader’s next orders,” explains Itachi simply, being patient until they receive a message through the rings.

_Move in two weeks time. They will not be expecting you then,_ are Nagato’s words, having been given the liberty to give the orders while his husband, Madara, runs things behind the scenes.

“Hn,” nods itachi, disconnecting the connection as he turns to his partner. “Well, does that satisfy you now?” 

“I suppose so,” shrugs the shark-like man, figuring he doesn’t really have a choice here though understands the gravity of the situation.

“Good. We’ll make our move in two weeks time like Leader-sama has instructed us. Until then we’ll continue to observe…” 

()()()()()

Some time passes amongst those in Konoha. It seems too peaceful for it to be true. It’s starting to make Naruto anxious, knowing that the Akatsuki will strike at any given point. Turning another year older, he sighs in sorrow, wishing his parents might be around though always spent his birthday alone. But here in the Uchiha compound he knows he has someone that cares about him. So much has gone by in the ever shifting tides of time, knowing even here at the age of thirteen that things won’t be any easier. Noticing the blondes unease, Sasuke pokes his shoulder a couple of times to gain his attention.

“Huh? Uh, sorry, I guess I zoned out there a little,” laughing nervously, he sees that the raven haired male continues to stare at him. 

“Something’s bothering you. What is it?” Demands the Uchiha to know, not dropping the subject anytime soon.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” trying to wave it off, he flinches at a fierce glare being given to him. “Uh, well…..it’s my birthday…. I just wish my parents were alive. They both died when I was born. I don’t know anything about them except that my father was the Fourth Hokage. I still don’t know their names or anything.” 

Almost immediately, Sasuke’s expression softens, knowing it’s harder for Naruto because he has grown up with nothing to help him along, “Ah, I see…. Well, we can celebrate together. The others are probably busy.” 

“Right,” giving a slight nod, he smiles in appreciation of the sentiment given.

The two go to the kitchen. Sasuke cooks them their breakfast meal, finding enjoyment in the mundane task. It helps take his mind off of things, knowing that his brother will still be looming somewhere nearby. The thought bothers him, wondering why all of this has to happen. Can’t they just leave Naruto and the others alone? It seems as if this hope is a desolate one, finding no option for a reason as to placate the infamous organization to cease their pursuit. All he can do is enjoy the time he has with Naruto until it’s all up. There’s no telling when they’ll strike again anyway. After they have some breakfast, Sasuke takes Naruto outside of the compound. There is something he wants to show him after all. Taking him out to the back of the structure, Naruto sees the training grounds Sasuke and his family used to use. It seems a little worn with age, but Sasuke still uses it often enough. Steering him a little ways past it, he comes across something that he doesn’t exactly know what to make of it. It does strike a cord of recognition.

“Do you remember this, dobe?” Asks Sasuke in a soft tone. “This is where the Memorial Stone used to be placed. The older one still remains here.” 

Reaching out, he traces the scrawling words of shinobi and kunoichi who have passed away in the midst of battle. Those warriors are ones that Kurama also recalls. Sharing him some of her knowledge has him know that some of these names are of soldiers that have fought for her kin. Drawing his hand back, he turns to Sasuke with a warm smile, not having known this is here unless he showed him of course. It’s a nice gesture to have a kindle of something to recall for the past.

“Thanks, teme. This means a lot to be able to see and feel it. I know Kurama thanks you too. This proves we still have plenty to fight for.” 

()()()()()

Meanwhile, Hinata wakes that morning to get out of bed. She let Sakura use her couch in the meantime until she can save up enough to buy another bed in her apartment. Padding into the kitchen, she starts up the kettle while making a light breakfast for them. Most likely there will be training and maybe an assignment for a mission. The thought of their teams working alongside each other is a fond one to say the least. When she’s done, she feels heat rush to her cheeks when she notices Sakura behind her as she turns to go fill the two cups.

“I-I….good morning,” splutters Hinata, her cheeks reddening a little further.

“Hey,” says Sakura, giving a half-smile as she goes to help her out, pouring the hot water into the two turbos china mugs, putting the tea bags in them to steep, noticing that the Hyuga has delicate tastes.

“H-How did y-you sleep?” She asks, wishing that she has more courage sometimes when talking to people though she can’t always shake away her speech impediment, putting equal portions onto two plates before taking them to the living room for them to eat at the small table she has.

“As well as I can,” shrugs Sakura, noticing she’ll need to leave in an hour or two for her training. “I probably won’t be able to go on any missions with the rest of my team until my training is done with Tsunade-sama.” 

“I-I understand,” placing a hand on one of hers, Hinata tries to convey comfort and affection, thinking she succeeds well enough with it.

“Thanks. She’s a great teacher,” offers Sakura, tucking into her meal of eggs and toast while taking a sip from her cup from time to time, appreciating the blend of chai rosebud tea. “You have amazing taste in this stuff, you know.” 

“Oh, um, it’s part of being a Hyuga woman. We’re suppose to know all about poise and the like,” admits Hinata, her cheeks flushing up again at the compliment given. “I’m glad that I can help you o-out in any way that I-I can.” 

“I’m glad too. Thanks for letting me stay with you, Hina-hime,” says Sakura warmly as she finishes up her meal, getting up to go take a shower to then dress for the day.

Most likely her team won’t call on her until later. They usually don’t have training practice until midday majority of the time. Rarely do they have any training during the morning hours. The thought of saying goodbye to Sakura before she goes out is a pleasing thought. Perhaps being partners and living together will be a good thing. Plus, she does love the rose haired kunoichi, finding it great that she’s pursuing her passion to become stronger and hopefully a medic by the end of her training with the Sanin. When Sakura comes back out to her, Hinata notices she’s in her usual outfit though there’s some changes to it. The skirt goes down to a little below her knees. Her shirt is also a dark blue instead of the usual red. Giving a small smile, she catches Hinata staring at her, quirking a brow at the reason why behind it. Though she guesses that she has never had someone live with her before. it’s something to adjust to given enough time. 

“Well, I’m off. I’ll be back when you return from training with your team,” says Sakura, stepping over to the heiress to embrace her before giving her a quick peck on the cheek, causing Hinata to blush though smiles at the affectionate gesture. 

“A-Alright. I hope it goes well for you,” says the Hyuga in a farewell, finding it hard to say goodbye to someone even though they’ll meet again when it’s time to return home.

“Hey, I’ll be back before you get back,” reassures Sakura, still holding her close before letting her go. “I’ll be late if I stay too long here I’m afraid.” 

“O-Ok, yeah, you’re right. I’ll see you when I get back home,” agrees Hinata, seeing Sakura blow her a kiss before darting out the door.

_How am I ever going to get the hang of this?_

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie forty-nine. I apologize that it’s a little short, but that’s just how it is sometimes. In the beginning notes I let y’all know what the next chain of events will be for this. Hopefully it’ll go out well. If not, then at least I tried I guess. Hehes_ **

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed what happened this time. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being written up. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	50. Grasshopper

**_Hey y’all! Welcome back for the next chappie for Chasms of Sixteen. I apologize for the wait on this. Life has been rather busy as of late. It’ll happen from time to time of course. I also have my original works aside from fanfics to work on. So, yeah, hopefully I can get back to working on this and my other stuff shortly. I’m at least trying, ok?_ **

**_Anyway, let’s get on with it now, shall we? I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments._ **

**Chapter 50: Grasshopper**

Three years have come to pass by in what feels like almost a blur. The three members of Team Seven have been given offers by the legendary Sanin to become tier pupils. Sasuke will go off with Orochimaru to become even more powerful, vowing he’ll do everything in his power to protect Naruto. Sakura continues her training under Lady Tsunade. That just leaves the jinchurriki. Who he goes off with is his godfather. It’ll allow them some quality family time. Being sixteen comes with its own set of complications. One of them being that the transformation from human to half-demon has been speeding up the more he uses Kurama’s chakra. It’s concerning to say the least. She has been able to reassure him that the process is nearly painless. Well, she hopes it’ll be, but there’s no guarantee that it will for sure. That part she’s leaving out for him not to know. The last thing she needs is him complaining the entire time they’re on the road. Another thing that bothers her is sensing two members of the Akatsuki continuing to remain near Konoha. It’s almost as if they’re waiting for an opportune moment to strike. 

_Keep on your toes, kit,_ warns the kitsune, not liking the odds they’re facing up against. 

_You worry too much sometimes, Fluffy,_ scowls Naruto, having caught wind of the two chakra signatures that have been trying to stay out of their radar for the longest time. _I sense them too, you know. I have Pervy Sage on my side. We’ll be fine._

_I hope you’re right,_ says Kurama quietly before going silent for now. 

Rolling his eyes, he does think she worries too much. Obviously it’s valid for her to be like this. It’s something he’s come to know of the mother hen of a fox that’s been with him since he was a baby. To know all that’s come to pass so far feels almost like a dream. The surreality of it all can be hard to believe sometimes. Pinching his arm, he grimaces slightly to reassure himself that this is the furthest thing from any sort of dream. Sasuke is off with Orochimaru right now. It’s hard to think that once he thought of the serpentine male as an enemy. To have him on their side is kind of weird. Though he’s come to get the hang of it. Kurama has been debating whether or not they include the Sanin into their group. They are indeed the most powerful shinobi and kunoichi of this world. It still needs to be thought over more before coming to a decision about it. Having put everything he’ll need into his pack, Naruto trots out of the Uchiha compound, knowing he’ll be back here in a while. Jiraiya has told him that he’ll be away for a couple of months to a year more or less. It depends on how quickly he progresses through the training. The mere thought of training from Jiraiya excites him, knowing that he’ll gain the knowledge and all to become a nature sage at long last. It does help during the three years spent in Konoha has been time spent well. He’s been able to get himself and Kurama back to their proper strength and skill before going through the Toad Sage’s training. There’s something he does worry about which is if Madara might be spying on them. What if he already knows what they’re doing? Recalling what each of the Akatsuki members roles are has him remembering what Zetsu does. The white and black halves can split apart to become two individuals instead of one whole. Usually the leaders of the organization has Zetsu spy on their members and enemies if his leaders require it of him. Trying to brush these thoughts aside to the back of his mind, Naruto knows that he needs to focus on the training he’ll be going on soon. Having already put out word he’ll be gone for a while, he makes sure that the other members of his own organization remember their roles for when he’s not there. One of the rules is to alert him if any of their foes catch wind of their plans, their location, and anything else that might jeopardize their mission. 

_I’m going to miss being here with Sasuke….. He’ll be back here at the same time I will. So, at least I won’t come home to an empty house,_ he smiles wistfully. 

_Such a lovestruck fool,_ sighs Kurama, making him remind her of her days when she had Luna with her. 

_So?_ Naruto sticks his tongue out at her. 

_You know what I mean,_ growls out Kurama in response, not finding it funny when he pulls that move on her. 

_Yeah, but doesn’t mean I got to like it,_ he counters, moving down the road to the front gates where Jiraiya will be waiting on him. 

“Good, you finally arrive. Jeez, I thought you might take forever,” says Jiraiya in a half-joking and half-serious way. 

“Yep, I’m ready to go,” grins Naruto. 

“Ok, kiddo. C’mon and we’ll go on an adventure together,” Jiraiya returns the grin, beginning to flash step after they walk down the road outside of Konoha a bit to where they reach the trees. “We have a lot of ground to cover if we want to reach the base of the mountain before sunset.” 

“Wait, we’re going there?” Gawks Naruto in surprise, not having thought they might go there right away. 

“Yep,” he chuckles lightly at the blonde’s reaction. “I doubt we’ll get there by then, but what’s the point in life without a little challenge?” 

“Right,” frowns Naruto, guessing he’ll just go along with it instead of questioning it. 

“That’s the spirit,” says Jiraiya as they continue to travel, having his own worries for Naruto, suspecting there might be more going on than what appears on the surface. 

They spend a good amount of the day traveling. It’s not until nightfall that they stop in their tracks in a clearing. It seems they won’t reach the mountain today, but they’ve been able to cover a decent amount of the way there so far. When they stop for the night, Naruto helps set up the campsite. For some reason or another, he suspects that Jiraiya might of caught on to what he might be doing. He does have more vulpine features to himself. Usually he keeps the tails hidden from view. Kurama taught him that trick a while ago. The times when he allows them to show is in Kurama’s pocket dimension and when he’s alone with Sasuke. The thought of that conversation they’ve had before makes his cheeks flare up a bit. Sitting in front of the small fire he’s put up, he breaks out some instant ramen. When he’s eating is the moment that Jiraiya brings up what’s on his mind. 

“Listen, kid, I don’t know what you think you’re messing with, but trust me it’s nothing you want to play around with,” warns Jiraiya in a deadly serious tone. 

Gulping down his ramen, he nods, “I’m aware of the consequences of what I’m doing. It’s for everyone’s sake that I’m fighting for. I can’t stop now when what’s done is already in motion.” 

“How can you be so sure?” Frowns Jiraiya, being a bit parental with having some doubts. 

“I have Kurama. She’s been the only family I’ve known and had all my life. Well, until I moved in with Sasuke that is,” he explains simply, scratching the back of his neck, feeling and for even saying this to him. 

It does sting a little, but he expects something like this, “I know I haven’t been there, but I am now.” 

“She does want me to recruit you,” blurts out Naruto bluntly, looking down at his feet. “I can see why. She knows I don’t want to lose you to them.” 

“To who?” Jiraiya genuinely wants to know, softening his tone to assure Naruto that he’s not doing anything wrong. 

“The Akatsuki.” 

()()()()()

Meanwhile, in Otogakure, is where Orochimaru has gone back to with Sasuke at his heels. It does please him greatly that one of the few remaining Uchiha decide to follow him. He will allow him to train under him, but he does have some conditions. One of them being that Kabuto takes blood and cell samples from him. For a very long time, he’s been dealing with a dire illness that causes intense coughing fits and other symptoms. Kabuto has been able to create medicine to keep him stable, but it’s not a sure fire cure that will eliminate it for good. The ex-medic has gone through many trials and errors with other samples to come to the conclusion that only an Uchiha’s will do the trick. There’s also the curse mark to take into consideration. It’ll be something that will require monitoring. It’s not something Sasuke is at all ok with, but it’s one of the few prices to pay to gain the power he needs to keep his boyfriend safe from harm. Besides, he hopes that Naruto can forgive him for it later.

“Now, now, what to do with you,” murmurs Orochimaru thoughtfully, leaving him to the spacious training grounds in the main hideout. “Oh, I know…. Begin to tame a few snakes. You’ll work up from small to large ones. Each time you successfully complete one round without being bitten will have you go up in size. This is the first step you’ll go through under me.” 

“Hn, I see,” Sasuke takes this in carefully, having thought this won’t be anything like he’s gone through before. 

“Yes, well, you start today, my dear. Don’t fail me,” warns the dark haired man. “Because disappoint and failure lead to unpleasant punishments….. Well, they aren’t ones I will give you, but Kabuto will be more than glad to administer them.” 

A cold shiver rushes down his spine as his face blanches at the mention of this, “I’m an Uchiha. We strive for perfection. I won’t fail you, sensei.” 

“That’s good,” smirks Orochimaru, snapping his hands for a handful of his smallest snakes to slither out of the grass towards him. “You’ll start with these first before moving up to something else. This is all we’ll do for the morning. In the afternoon, I expect you to be ready to spar.” 

“Hn, I will,” promises Sasuke, turning his attention to the reptiles making their way along the ground towards him.

Orochimaru knows fully well that he won’t cause any sort of failure towards him. besides, he knows the price to pay for it. Leaving him to his devices, he has his own duties to see to. Heading to the makeshift medical bay, he needs to speak with Kabuto. The concern of preparing the serum to eradicate the remains of the condition will be something to ease his troubling mind. When it’s finally rid of his system will assist him in furthering his own experiments along with other matters. It doesn’t take long until he finds the gray haired male. He seems to be studying over his notes, examining the samples when put into the mixture. Approaching him from behind, Orochimaru peers over his shoulder. It doesn’t take long for Kabuto to notice his presence there. 

“How’s it coming along?” He asks casually. 

“I’ll have it ready in a fortnight at this rate. I’ll still need two days more samples from Sasuke. Soon enough you’ll have the cure you want, my lord.” 

**_Oks, that’s the end of chappie fifty. I apologize for the wait on this. It’s just taken me a while to work up my confidence again to further this story. It’s still a favorite of mine to work on even though it’s an adopted story. I hope you all enjoyed. Hehes_ **

**_The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being written up. Hopefully that won’t be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_ **


	51. Update

 

Hey y'all! it's Spirit here. 

So, I'm sure you all are wondering where the next chappie of this is. Well, I am in the works with it. I started it a few days ago, but it takes time to get these chappies done; especially when I have other works to update too. Don't fret too much because I am still working on this story. I'll try to have an update of this out for y'all by next week.

Thank you all for your patience and continued support. I hope you all continue to enjoy this along with the rest of the works on my page here and ffn. 


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